Equities markets were mixed in London on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 added 0.6 percent to 6,227.6, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.6 percent to 11,102.2.

Oil companies were higher on takeover rumors, as it was said that either Royal Dutch Shell or BP could be interested in bidding on BG Group. Shell added 0.6 percent to £17.18, while BP gained 0.7 percent to 545p and BG Group was 1.7 percent higher to 662½p.

Supermarkets were also higher on the session. Wm Morrison was up 0.1 percent to 284p on positive comments from Deutsche Bank, which reconfirmed its “buy” recommendation and target share price of 320p. Elsewhere in the sector, Tesco gained 0.3 percent to 415¼p, while J Sainsbury added 0.8 percent to 438p on talk that private equity has approached with a bid.

In other retail news, magazine and bookseller WH Smith gained 5.6 percent after it issued a positive trading statement.

Among makers of medical devices, Smith & Nephew was 2.3 percent higher to 566¾p after it announced a special dividend and held out the possibility of more cost cutting measures. Goldman Sachs said that the company, thought to be a possible bid target from private equity, would forestall such a bid. Elsewhere in the sector, Gyrus added 1.1 percent to 406¾p.

The FTSE 100 ended the day and the week ahead on Friday, while the FTSE 250 saw declines for both the session and this week. The 100 added 0.1 percent during the day and was 0.3 percent higher on the week to close at 6,239. Meanwhile the 250 dropped 0.1 percent on Friday and 0.7 percent on the week to 11,111.7.

The pharmaceuticals sector was helped by a vote in the US House of Representatives that would let the government negotiate directly with drug companies on the prices of drugs for Medicare recipients. GlaxoSmithKline was 0.5 percent higher to £13.71, while AstraZeneca gained 1.3 percent to £28.73.

Bids rumors sent Woolworths up 3 percent to 34p. Baugur, which currently owns 10 percent of the retailer, is said to be considering offering a bid of 40p per share. Ladbrokes was helped by talk of a possible bid from private equity, gaining 2.4 percent to 449¼p.

In the oil sector, BP was 1.8 percent higher to 546½p on the news that its chief executive will retire in July, to be replaced by the company’s head of exploration and production.

Lloyds TSB added 1.7 percent to 593p on the possibility that its dividend could go up and after Cazenove upped its recommendation to “outperform”.

The London equities markets were higher on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 adding 0.6 percent to 6,086.4 and the FTSE 250 up 0.7 percent to 10,834.1. The oil and mining sectors helped in the gains.

In the telecommunications sector, Carphone Warehouse was 7.6 percent higher to 291¾p after its chief executive told Merrill Lynch Monday night that it has gotten back some contract business from Vodafone.

Premier Foods added 6.9 percent to 301½p as rumors circulated that the private equity owners of United Biscuits would be interested in a takeover attempt. Most analysts did not credit the possibility, however, and put the gains more to the recent bid by Premier for rival RHM, which gained 5.7 percent to 377¾p. If the Premier/RHM deal goes through the company created will be the UK’s leading food producer.

In the oil sector, BP was 1.8 percent higher to 578p when UBS named it one of its top picks for next year. Meanwhile, Royal Dutch Shell added 2 percent to £18.25 after ABN Amro raised its recommendation to “buy”.

Among miners, Anglo American was up 3.2 percent to £24.55 on talk that Larry Yung was interested in further building his stake in the company. Higher copper prices sent both Kazakhmys and Antofagasta higher as well. Kazakhmys added 3.1 percent to £12.17, while Antofagasta gained 4.6 percent to 530p.

In the tobacco sector, Gallaher was 3 percent higher to 986½p on expectations of consolidation within the sector. However, SG Securities reiterated its “sell” recommendation on the tobacco company on the basis that it was an unlikely takeover target.

London equities markets were lower on Thursday, mainly on declines in financial sectors. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.2 percent to 6,136.5. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was 18.6 points lower to 10,323.1.

Losers among financial institutions included HSBC, down 0.8 percent to £10.05. Also lower were Northern Rock, which fell 0.9 percent to £11.91 and Bradford & Bingley, 1.5 percent lower to 466p. Alliance & Leicester dropped 1.8 percent to £11.09. Ironically, life assurer Prudential, which sent the sector lower when it blamed its predicted losses in the second half on a loss in its internet bank, Egg, itself added 0.9 percent on the day to 635p.

In the tobacco sector, Imperial Tobacco was 0.4 percent lower to £18.24 on a downgrade from “buy” to “neutral” from Goldman Sachs.

The oil sector was lower even in the face of expected cuts in production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Companies. Royal Dutch Shell dropped 0.6 percent to £18.14, while BP fell 1 percent to 595p.

Vodafone declined 0.6 percent to 128p on news from the European telecommunications sector. Nokia was down on the session, and there were worries that an offer from Telefonica to not charge for incoming calls to customers traveling in Europe could set off a tariff war.

The pharmaceuticals sector saw advances as GlaxoSmithKline added 1 percent to £14.90 and AstraZeneca was 1.5 percent higher to £34.74, its highest share price in nearly five years.

The London equities markets saw declines on Monday as oil and miners were both lower on declining prices. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.5 percent to 5,850.8, while the FTSE 250 was 0.9 percent lower to 9,523.1. Volume was low, with only 2 billion shares trading hands.

The oil sector was down as crude oil prices continued to decline. BP ended the session at 583p, 1.3 percent lower, while BG Group dropped 2.6 percent to 659½p. Among mid-cap oil companies, JKX Oil & Gas declined 6.8 percent to 258¼p.

Miners were lower as well, as investors continued to worry that interest rates in China would be raised in order to slow growth there. BHP Billiton was 4.9 percent lower to 934p, Vedanta Resources dropped 6.2 percent to £12.39, and Aquarius Platinum fell 10.1 percent to 841½p.

In the retail sector, Next was 1.1 percent lower to £17.09 on doubts that rumors on Friday that private equity firms were interested in bidding would end up producing anything concrete.

The telecommunications sector did better on the session. Vodafone, with its Vodafone Italia division its second most lucrative asset, was 1.9 percent higher to 114¾p on the news that Telecom Italia’s board had met to consider restructuring that could include the sale of its wireless business. BT Group added 1.9 percent to 253¼p after it won a contract to provide Vodafone’s UK customers with broadband internet. Cable & Wireless, which was also in the running for the Vodafone contract, was still up 0.2 percent to 125½p.

The London equities markets were down for the day on Friday and over the week as a whole, with the FTSE 100 dropping 1 percent during the day to 5,707.6, a decline of 3.1 percent during the week. The FTSE 250 was down even more, falling 1.1 percent to 9,076 during Friday’s session for a total loss of 3.8 percent this week.

After dropping as low as 690p during the week, Aviva closed 0.7 percent higher on Friday at 695p. The earlier losses came as investors were unhappy with the life assurer’s purchase of AmerUS for £1.6 billion. The worry was that it would be the beginning of a series of US acquisitions, although Aviva’s chief executive said that the present deal satisfied the company’s goals in the United States. Merrill Lynch upgraded Aviva to “buy”, saying that the deal was advantageous for the company.

The mining sector was lower as Rio Tinto dropped 3 percent to £27.25. Vedanta Resources saw declines as well, falling 0.2 percent to £13.33. JP Morgan raised Vedanta’s target share price from £18.25 to £19.65 based on its exposure to both copper and zinc as well as its growth.

British Airways was 2.4 percent lower to 346½p as oil prices continued to rise due to increasing political tensions in the Middle East. The same price hikes sent BP 0.3 percent higher to 643p.

The equities markets in London took significant losses on Thursday as 2.9 billion shares changed hands during the day. The FTSE 100 fell 1.6 percent to 5,765 as miners fell substantially, while the media sector took the FTSE 250 2 percent lower to 9,176.2.

In the mining sector, BHP Billiton was down 3.9 percent to £10.51, Lonmin dropped 4.4 percent to £27.77, and Vedanta Resources fell 5.2 percent to £13.36. The losses reflected investor reluctance to take any risks at the present time.

On the other hand, oil exploration stocks rose with crude oil prices. Premier Oil added 0.8 percent to 957p, while Dana Petroleum gained 1.6 percent to £10.97.

In the media sector, EMI dropped 9.2 percent to 277¾p on the news that a European court had overruled the European Union’s approval of a merger between Sony Music and BMG as investors worried that the ruling might affect the proposed EMI/Warner deal, Meanwhile, Emap fell 14.9 percent to 712p after issuing a negative trading statement.

In the banking sector, Standard Chartered was down by 2.9 percent to £12.49 on concerns that it will need to raise $5 billion (£2.7 billion) if it wins the bidding for LG Card, the largest credit card issuer in South Korea. Analysts also pointed out that, with Standard Chartered’s purchase of Korea First Bank last year, the acquisition of LG Card would leave SC too heavily exposed to South Korea.

Gains on the FTSE 100 were few and limited. Rising oil prices took BP up just 0.1 percent to 641p. National grid gained 0.3 percent to 590p, while Tesco added 0.9 percent to 335p.

The FTSE 100 was up by 0.5 percent to 5,678.6 in London on Wednesday as the oil sector saw gains as crude oil prices were up again. The FTSE 250, however, dropped slightly to 9,197.2. Trade volumes remained below average, with only 2.4 billion shares changing hands.

BP added 0.9 percent to 618½p, BG Group was up 1.2 percent to 707p, and Royal Dutch Shell gained 1.4 percent to £18.41. Merrill Lynch confirmed its “overweight” rating for the sector as a whole.

PartyGaming dropped 2.1 percent to 113½p. Analysts believe that the drop is due to selling of the internet gaming company’s stock, which they bought earlier this month when four of PartyGaming’s founders sold 5 percent of the company.

In the media sector, EMI added 8.4 percent to 307½p on the news that it has turned down an offer worth 320p per share from Warner Music.

Corus Steel added 1.3 percent to 434p amid rumors that it has received a bid from either Severstal of Russia or Tata Steel of India. Earlier in the week, Severstal failed to completel a deal with Arcelor.

In the utilities sector, Severn Trent dropped 3.1 percent to £11.35 and United Utilities fell 3.3 percent to 630p.

In London on Friday, trade in equities was slow again with only 2.1 billion shares changing hands during the session. The activity left the markets higher for the day, but only just, with the FTSE 100 adding 0.1 percent to 5,692.1 and the FTSE 250 up 0.03 percent, just 2.4 points, to close at 9,195.3. Both the 100 and the 250 were up for the week, by 1.7 percent and 1.1 percent respectively.

The oil sector was largely responsible for the 100’s gains on the day. Royal Dutch Shell gained 1.4 percent to £18.21, while BP was up 2 percent to 617p. Deutsche Bank put its target share price for BP at 800p, and issued an upgrade for Shell to “buy” and set its target share price to £21.

Energy companies saw advances as well, spurred on by news that in the US Anadarko Petroleum has purchased both Kerr-McGee and Western Gas Resources in separate cash deals. BG Group gained 2.7 percent to 695p, while Cairn Energy added 4.8 percent to £20.71.

SABMiller dropped 1.5 percent to 960p after comments from Merrill Lynch said that the brewer might have to cut its earnings forecasts due to continuing weakness in the South African rand, which was at a two and a half year low of 7.53 rand to the dollar on Friday. SABMiller has lost almost 18 percent since May 11.

In the construction materials sector, Wolseley added 0.5 percent to £11.55 and Hanson was up 2 percent to 651½p as the US dollar gained value in relation to sterling. Because both companies get a large portion of their profits in dollars but report earnings in sterling, those earnings show a boos when the dollar strengthens.

Persimmon gained 1.3 percent to £12.09 after UBS reaffirmed its “buy” recommendation and set a target share price of £16.35 in anticipation of the homebuilder’s half-year results, due next week.

London equities markets were mixed on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.2 percent to 5,506.8, mostly on declines in the oil sector, while the FTSE 250 added 0.7 percent to 8,782.2. 3.3 billion shares were traded on the day.

Homebuilders were mixed on bids rumors. Crest Nicholson was up 3.6 percent to 505p on speculation that one of its rivals would purchase the 23.4 percent of its shares now held by Heron International. Bovis Homes was the most mentioned possible buyer, sending its shares 2.2 percent lower to 779½p. However, some analysts see either George Wimpey or Barratt Developments as more likely bidders for the shares. Wimpey added 2.7 percent on the day to 428½p, while Barratt gained 1.1 percent to 868p.

In the banking sector, Lloyds TSB added 2.4 percent to 515p on an upgrade to “overweight” and an increase to 611p in its target share price by Morgan Stanley.

Bid rumors in the pharmaceuticals sector sent AstraZeneca 2. 5 percent higher to £30.16 on a revival of talk that Novartis will make an offer. The feeling of some analysts is that these rumors have gained new currency due to the bidding war over German drug maker Schering.

In the oil sector, BP lost 1.3 percent to 586p. Royal Dutch Shell declined by 1.8 percent to £17.35, while BG Group was down 3.3 percent to 635p. Meanwhile, Tullow Oil dropped 2.3 percent to 300¾p even though rumor had it that Royal Dutch Shell might be planning a bid.