British Airways was 1.9 percent higher to 377p in London on Monday as the government in the UK lowered its alert level from “critical” to “severe” after the arrest last week of a number of individuals who were said to have planned to bomb flights from London to the United States. The gain helped the FTSE 100 add 0.8 percent to 5,870.9 and the FTSE 250 to gain 0.5 percent to 9,303.9. Volume was extremely low at fewer than 2 billion shares traded on the session.

After a 10 percent decline on Friday, fund manager Schroders was 6.5 percent higher to 929p.

Among banks, Lloyds TSB was up by 1.5 percent to 514½p as Goldman Sachs took Lloyds off its “conviction sell” list but still maintined its “sell” recommendation. Meanwhile, Merrill Lynch added Barclays to its list of top picks and reiterated its target share price of 878p. Barclays was up 2.1 percent to 649p on the session.

Shares in property companies were up, led by British Land, up 1.1 percent to £13.75 ahead of quarterly results due on Tuesday.

Among decliners on the day was BT Group, which was 0.9 percent lower to 240½p after a downgrade by Cazenove from “outperform” to “inline” following on a profits warning issued last week by Deutsche Telekom. Also down on the day was PartyGaming, which dropped 3.5 percent to 105¼p.

London’s equities markets were up on the day Thursday as the FTSE 100 added 1.6 percent to 5,677.7 and the FTSE 250 gained 1.5 percent to 9,190.5.

The telecoms sector was mixed on the day. BT Group added 1.45 percent to 226¾p on rumors that Deutsche Telecom is thinking about proffering a bid. The rumor, reported by a German business magazine, was considered possible by many analysts. Elsewhere in the sector, Vodafone was up 3.5 percent to 118p on a “buy” recommendation from Credit Suisse. Cable & Wireless, however, dropped 2.5 percent to 97½p after it issued a disappointing full-year report and a cancellation of its announced share buyback.

PartyGaming was up 0.8 percent to 123¾p, but analysts believe that shares in the online gaming business will open 3 to 4 percent lower tomorrow, taking into account that just before the close of the trading day the US House Judiciary Committee approved legislation outlawing online gambling in the United States, sending the bill on to the full house for a vote.

Airports operator BAA dropped 5.6 percent to 787½p on news that the Office of Fair Trading will investigate the UK airport industry to determine whether the current structure of the market works to the advantage of consumers.

Gainers included pub operator Mitchells & Butlers, up 3.7 percent to 499¼p when stake building rumors by Robert Tchenguiz continued to circulate.

The mining sector also saw gains as metals prices rebounded. Kazakhmys added 5.4 percent to £10.76, while Antofagasta gained 3.6 percent to £20.68.

The London equities markets were lower on Thursday, with the FTSE 100 down 0.07 percent to 5,671.6 and the FTSE 250 dropping by a substantial 1.5 percent to 9,134.8. Trade was heavy at nearly 4 billion shares on the day. Homebuilders and the oil sector were both instrumental in the declines on both indexes.

In the oil sector, Cairn Energy dropped 4.2 percent to £20.69. Among mid-caps, Dana Petroleum dropped 6 percent to 917½p. Also in stocks related to commodities, miner Kazakhmys was down 3 percent to £10.94.

Among homebuilders, Persimmon dropped 4.4 percent to £11.48, while Taylor Woodrow lost 5.6 percent to 320½p and George Wimpey was down 4.3 percent to 436½p. Crest Nicholson dropped 3.2 percent to 320¼p and Bovis Homes was down 4.5 percent to 755p. A major factor in the sector’s declines was said to be reaction to the news that a member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee had voted to raise interest rates at the committee’s meeting this month.

Telecom BT Group added 8 percent on the day to 226¼p on a positive quarterly earnings report and predications that there is more growth to come.

Among losers, brewer SABMiller lost 3 percent £10.61 despite a strong full-year earnings report, when it warned of higher input costs and price declines in the US beer market.

London equities markets were down substantially again on Monday, with the FTSE 100 losing 1.2 percent to 5,841.3 and the FTSE 250 falling 2.6 percent to 9,557.3. It was the fifth session of losses in a row for the 100.

The mining sector accounted for a substantial amount of the declines. Xstrata and Kazakhmys each lost 8.4 percent, to £22.08 and £12.04 respectively. Xstrata is said to be looking for a way to fund an offer of £9.4 billion for Canadian miner Falconbridge. Elsewhere in the sector, Antofagasta dropped 6.9 percent to £22.73, while BHP Billiton was down 5.6 percent to £11.02.

The steel sector also saw losses as Anglo-Dutch group Corus was down 3.7 percent to 421¼p after US investor Brandes said that it has reduced its holding in the company from 4.8 percent to 3.79 percent.

Retailer Next was also down, by 0.3 percent to £17.45 even though Man Securities raised its target share price for the company from £19 to £22.50 before Next’s trading update, due on Wednesday.

Among banks, Lloyds TSB added 0.8 percent to 510p on a possible dividend yield of 6.7 percent.

The telecommunications sector had a good day. Vodafone, which had UBS hike its target share price to 153p and issue a “buy” recommendation, was up 1.2 percent to 125¼p. Meanwhile, BT Group gained 2.6 percent to 216p on rumors that it will have a smaller-than-projected pension fund deficit when it issues its full-year report on Thursday.

Despite gains early in the day in London on Tuesday, the FTSE 100 ended the day down by 0.8 percent to 6,016.5, mainly on declines spurred by worries about rising interest rates around the world. The FTSE 250 lost even more, dropping 1.3 percent to 9,743.8. Volume amounted to 3.4 billion shares traded.

The early gains came on advances in the mining sector as metals prices hit new highs yet again. Anglo American added 0.8 percent to £24.25 and Xstrata gained 1.6 percent to £20.05. Both were helped by upgrades from “hold” to “buy” from Deutsche Bank.

The oil sector was also largely higher as crude oil prices rose. Dana Petroleum was up 3.2 percent to £10.70 after Merrill Lynch upped its target share price from £11.50 to £13.50. Not all sector stocks were up, however. Burren Energy dropped 4.8 percent to 907p when Merrill Lynch downgraded its shres from “buy” to “neutral” over problems in its exploration program.

The telecommunications sector was also mixed. Colt Telecom added 4.4 percent to 70½p on renewed bid speculation. But BT Group and Carphone Warehouse both lost ground after Carphone Warehouse announced a plan to offer free broadband to UK customers. BT dropped 2.4 percent to 213p, while Carphone Warehouse was down 1.1 percent to 310p. Vodafone also declined, dropping 2.2 percent to 123½p.

In the retail sector, Marks & Spencer added 3.9 percent to 586p on the announcement that sales were up more than had been expected and on a subsequent reiteration of a “buy” recommendation from Oriel Securities.

Insurer Prudential dropped 2 percent to 654p after Axa said that it was not discussing a bid and was not planning to enter into such talks.

Meanwhile, US stock exchange Nasdaq became the largest shareholder in the London Stock Exchange when it bought out Threadneedle Asset Management’s 35.4 million shares in the LSE and also made a separate purchase of 2.7 million additional shares in the exchange. The purchases took Nasdaq’s stake in the LSE to 14.99 percent, higher than the 10 percent rumor had it that the US company was looking to acquire. The news of the acquisition only was revealed after trading had closed for the day. During the day’s session, shares in the LSE had gained 1 percent to £10.38.

In London on Wednesday, the FTSE 100 closed up 0.3 percent to 6,007.5, the first time it has closed above 6,000 in five years. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was 0.5 percent higher to close at 9,858.6. Continued bid rumors and gains in the property sector were instrumental in the day’s advances.

Shares in property companies were up an the news that new rules on the introduction of tax-efficient property investment vehicles were less restrictive than they had been expected to be. Slough Estates gained 13.4 percent on the day to 685p, while Land Securities was up 12.9 percent to £20.80, British Land advanced by 11.9 percent to £13.00, and Hammerson added 9.2 percent.

BT Group gained 2.4 percent to 234½p on more intense rumors that a private equity consotium was going to bid, possibly offering as much as 265p per share. Elsewhere in the telecommunications sector, Cable & Wireless dropped 2.7 percent to 109¾p as bid rumors lessened in intensity.

Broadcaster ITV was up 9.4 percent to 650½p after it said it had rejected a bid from a consortium that included Apax Partners and Goldman Sachs, saying that the offer was not in the best interest of shareholders.

The London Stock Exchange dropped 3.3 percent to £11.38 when Credit Suisse downgraded it to “neutral” from “outperform”.

London’s equities markets were mixed this week, with the FTSE 100 up 0.8 percent but the FTSE 250 sliding 0.4 percent over the five sessions. However, both indices were up on Friday, with the FTSE 100 gaining 0.9 percent on the day to 5,907.9 and the FTSE 250 up 0.5 percent to 9,430.1 on a volume of 3 billion shares traded. It was the first time the 100 had closed above the 5,900 mark in almost five years.

Bid talk drove much of the movement in individual companies. Cairn Energy was up 2.3 percent higher on the day to £19.15 on hopes that India’s ONGC would make a bid for Cairn’s assets there. Conversely, doubts that a private equity group would bid for BT sent the telecommunication company’s shares down 1.3 percent to 224½p.

Airports operator BAA gained 5 percent to 814p on new rumors that Ferrovial would bid for it after all, just a day after it suffered losses when it seemed that the Spanish company had decided not to make a bid, even though it had said earlier that it was interested.

Anglo American ended the day 0.3 percent higher to £19.78 despite earlier losses after Morgan Stanley cut the miner’s rating to “underweight” from “overweight”.

The banking sector saw gains on lessened concerns over inflation. Lloyds TSB was up 0.9 percent to 535½p, while Barclay’s gained 2.1 percent to 660½p.

Activity in the telecommunications sector helped send London equities markets higher on Monday. The FTSE 100 was up 0.6 percent to 5,897.8, the highest it has closed in nearly five years. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 advanced by 0.8 percent to an all-time high close of 9,546.0.

Both Vodafone and BT Group were up on the news that AT&T has made a $67 billion bid for BellSouth. This move in the US highlighted mergers and acquisitions activity in the UK and spurred hopes of further activity.

Vodafone was up 2.9 percent to 125p on the proposed sale of its Japanese division, which has not been performing to expectations, to Tokyo-based SoftBank, and on speculation that Vodafone would also sell its 45 percent stake in US company Verizon Wireless, even though most analysts felt that the sale of the Verizon shares was unlikely. BT Group added 5.1 percent to 231¾p.

Elsewhere in the sector, Colt Telecom was up 6.9 percent to 69¾p, Cable and Wireless gained 0.5 percent to 108p on rumors that it was being targeted by Thus Group, which was even at 15½p.

In the tobacco sector, BAT gained 2.5 percent to £14.43 on an upgrade from Citigroup.

In the retail sector, Matalin gained 3.8 percent to 198p on a report that its founder and chairman was talking to private equity buyers about selling his majority stake in the company. MFI Furniture was up 4.1 percent to 94¼p, also on interest from private equity groups. Home shopper N Brown gained 8.4 percent on the day to 214p.