London’s equities markets saw declines on Friday.

The FTSE 100 1.17 percent lower to 6,289.3 and the FTSE 250 falling 1.95 percent to 10,954.

Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) had the worst performance by far on the 100, falling 31.46 percent to 438p after it had to ask the Bank of England for help after it could not find a place to borrow money from traditional sources and customers lined up outside branches of the bank to withdraw their money from accounts.

The trouble extended to other banks, with Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL) dropping 6.88 percent to 873p.

Mortgage lenders were also hurt.

Paragon (LSE: PAG) was down 16.76 percent to 298p for the worst day on the 250.

It was followed by fellow mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley (LSE: BB), which was 7.7 percent lower to 329.75.

Homebuilders were also lower on the day.

Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV) dropped 4.71 percent to 829p and Persimmon (LSE: PSN) was down 6.62 percent to £10.16 on the 250, while Bellway (LSE: BWY) fell 7.54 percent to £10.67 on the 100.

Oil-related shares saw gains on the 250.

Burren Energy (LSE: BUR) was up 1.79 percent to 853p, while Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX) added 1.94 percent to £10 and JKX Oil & Gas (LSE: JKX) was 2.25 percent higher to 397.75p.

Gold miner Hochschild (LSE: HOC) had the best day on the 250 as it gained 3.83 percent to 345.25p.

Chemicals group Reckitt Benckiser (LSE: RB) was the best performer on the 100, adding 1.49 percent to £27.99.

Publisher Reed Elsevier (LSE: REL; Euronext: REN; NYSE: ENL; NYSE: RUK) was 1.08 percent higher to 608p, and DIY retailer Kingfisher (LSE: KFG) closed at 196.6p, a gain of 0.2 percent.

The FTSE 100 dropped 0.28 percent to 6,697.7 in London on Monday, while the FTSE 250 was 0.05 percent lower to 11,917.3.

The mining and oil sectors were lower in London.

Platinum miner Lonmin (LSE: LMI) dropped 6.85 percent to £39.85 for the worst performance of the session on the FTSE 100 after it issued a disappointing trading statement, saying that sales will be lower for the next year.

The announcement prompted a downgrade from Citigroup (NYSE: C).

Xstrata (LSE: XTA) was also lower, falling 1.78 percent to £33.61.

In the oil sector, Royal Dutch Shell’s (LSE: RDSA, RDSB; NYSE: RDS.A, RDS.B) A shares were 1.59 percent lower to £20.40.

BG Group (LSE: BG; NSYE: BG) was also lower, dropping 2.34 percent to 857p.

On the FTSE 250, Premier Oil (LSE: PMO) fell 2.57 percent to £11.75, while Burren Energy (LSE: BUR) was down 2.79 percent to 853.5p.

Back on the 100, SEGRO (LSE: SLOU), the rebrand of property development group Slough Estates, fell 2.04 percent to 599p.

Top gainers on the 100 covered several sectors, with bank Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL) doing the best as it added 2.49 percent to £11.52.

Publisher Reed Elsevier (LSE: REL; Euronext: REN; NSYE: ENL; NYSE: RUK) was 1.66 percent higher to 675p, while in the pharmaceuticals sector, GlaxoSmithKline gained 1.63 percent to £13.10 on an upgrade from “underweight” to “neutral” from JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM; TYO: 8634).

The London equities markets were mixed on the last full trading day before Christmas, with the FTSE 100 0.2 percent lower to 6,183.7 but the FTSE 250 adding 0.2 percent to 11,066.4. Volume was light, with around 2 billion shares trading hands.

Miners were hurt by dropping copper prices. Vedanta Resources dropped 16p to £11.77. Antofagasta fell 2.2 percent to 496½p, while Rio Tinto was 2.5 percent lower to £26.65 and Kazakhmys dropped 3.7 percent to £10.89.

British Energy fell 3.3 percent to 520½p after it said on Wednesday that two of its nuclear power stations will not be back in service until March. Citigroup reduced its rating on the company to “sell” and assigned a target share price of 430p. Elsewhere in the energy sector, Burren Energy dropped 5 percent to 840p after investors worried that the death of the president of Turkmenistan will put its interests there in jeopardy. Burren currently produces about 18,000 barrels of oil per day from its field there.

Smith & Nephew added 3.4 percent to 537¼p, its highest share price in nine months, on rumors that the group of private equity buyers that recent purchased US rival Biomet were also interested in bidding for S&N.

In the leisure sector, cruise ship operator Carnival was up 2.9 percent to £25.36 on a fourth quarter report that rose above what had been expected.

The FTSE 100 was lower on Tuesday in London with a decline of 0.8 percent to 5,880.0, affected by investor concerns that interest rates in the United States could rise again in August. In addition, trade volumes were very low with only 2.2 billion shares changing hands.

Rising crude oil prices helped the oil sector. Burren Energy added 2.9 percent to 914p while Tullow Oil gained 1.9 percent to 402p. Both were also helped by news that a French firm will sell assets, probably in Congo, to ENI of Italy; Burren and Tullow both have assets in the development in question.

Plumber Wolseley was also up on the day, finishing 0.7 percent higher to £11.48.

Unilever, up 12 percent in the past two weeks, added another 0.3 percent to end the session at £12.70. The consumer goods group, which is scheduled to release its quarterly report on Thursday, is expected to say that its underlying sales are up by 3.6 percent in the quarter. While Credit Suisse was optimistic about Unilever’s prospects, Lehman Brothers said that it would have to show its current valuation is deserved.

Online gaming had another bad day. PartyGaming dropped 3.4 percent to 105¾p, while 888 Holdings was 7.7 percent lower to 143p.

Miners were also lower on the day. Kazakhmys did better than most after Credit Suisse raised its target share price from £13 to £15 on an increase in production. Still, Kazahkmys fell 0.2 percent to £12.49.

In London on Tuesday the FTSE 100 gained 0.24 percent to 6,044.1, while the FTSE 250 was up 0.1 percent to 9,785.2 as traders returned from the long holiday weekend.

Shares in companies related to the oil and gas industry were up as crude oil prices reached record highs. BP added 1.24 percent to 696½p, while BG Group was up 2.96 percent to 764p. Rumors of a takeover move against BG by ExxonMobil were again circulating.

Oil exploration group Burren Energy benefited not only from higher oil prices but also from an upgrade from UBS. The broker raised its recommendation on Burren to “buy” and set a target share price of £10.70. Burren added 9 percent to 996½p.

Elsewhere in the sector, Fortune Oil was up 14.2 percent to 6p on a deal to purchase 60 percent of a gas reserve in Shani Province, China, while Black Rock Oil & Gas added 29 percent to 1.47p after raising £1.3 million to invest in its Columbia operations.

Miners were also up on the day as metals prices were also up again. BHP Billiton was up 5 percent to £11.80, while Aim-listed China Goldmines added 72.3 percent to 127½p.

Property company British Land benefited from an upgrade to “buy” from UBS, gaining 4.7 percent to £12.77. Merrill Lynch also recommended that its clients buy shares in British Land, based on recent weakness in its share price as well as government plans to introduce tax efficient real estate investment trusts.

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.

The London equities markets were up on Wednesday after losses over the two previous trading sessions. The FTSE 100 added 0.5 percent to 5,959.2, earning back nearly a fourth of the ground it had lost on Monday and Tuesday. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was up by 0.1 percent to 9,820.8. 3.3 billion shares were traded on the day.

Supermarket operator J Sainsbury added 1.6 percent to 332½p on its fifth quarterly gain in sales in a row.

In the retail sector, Marks & Spencer also gained 1.6 percent, to 558½p, amid rumors, discounted by some, that it is about to announce its expansion into India and will locate up to 200 stores there.

Mergers and acquisitions talk also gained speed again. In the banking sector, the Royal Bank of Scotland was 0.7 percent higher to £18.52 on talk that US bank Wachovia is thinking of bidding £26 per share for RBS. Citigroup is also said to be interested.

In the oil sector, BG Group added 4.3 percent to hit a record high share price of 734p after Exxon was reported to be interested in bidding on the company, to the tune of as much as 900p per share. Exxon is said to be interested in BG’s Kazakhstan holdings.

Elsewhere in the oil sector, Burren Energy lost 7.3 percent to 953p on a report that Tullow Oil had come up dry in a well it had been developing at the M’Boundi oil field in Congo, West Africa. Burren holds 31 percent of the rights in that field as opposed to Tullow’s 11 percent. Tullow lost 0.1 percent to 348½p on the announcement.

In London on Wednesday the FTSE 100 reached a 4-year high of 5,494.8, its sixth best day this year and a rise of 0.9 percent from Tuesday’s close. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was also up, by 0.6 percent to 7,935.6.

Among the stocks helping the markets to their gains on the day was Standard Chartered, which gained 4.2 percent to £12.40, near its all time high, on strong performances by Asian stock markets. Standard Chartered recently bought South Korean bank Korea First, which has been a particularly strong market.

Schroders, the assets manager, which also has a great deal of interests in the region, was also up on the day, by 1.3 percent to 920p.

The mining sector was also up on the day, with Corus and Xstrata each up by 4 percent, to 52½p and £14.90 respectively. Also in the sector, Anglo American rose by 3.8 percent to £17.04.

The energy sector was mixed, with Royal Dutch Shell “B” shares up 1.6 percent to £19.46 but Burren Energy down 0.8 percent to 839½p.

Several media companies were up on the recommendation of ABN Amro. Among the media sector gainers were United Business Media, which gained 1.5 percent to 551½p. Also seeing gains were WPP with an advance of 1.7 percent to 586p and Reuters, which rose by 2.8 percent to 379¼p.

The London equities markets saw little movement as a whole on Tuesday as the FTSE 100 was down by only 0.1 percent and the FTSE 250 fell fractionally to 7,891.9 on a volume of 2.5 billion shares traded.

Before its decline, the FTSE 100 hit a 4-year high of 5,471.2 earlier in the day, but losses in New York helped the early gains disappear.

BAT was the biggest loser on the FTSE 100, dropping 2.3 percent to £11.77 as investors waited to see if the Canadian Supreme Court would allow a suit worth C$10 billion against the tobacco company to continue.

The energy sector was up, however. BP ended the day up 1 percent to 699½p after reaching an all-time high of 675½p earlier on an upgrade from “neutral” to “overweight” from JP Morgan. BG Group gained 0.7 percent to 534½p.

Among oil explorers, Burren Energy rose 2.7 percent to 846p on an initial “buy” recommendation from Merrill Lynch. Tullow Oil gained 2.5 percent to 254p.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Alliance Unichem led all bluechips as it gained 3.5 percent to 870p on rumors of forthcoming bids.

Meanwhile, O2 was up 1.6 percent to 155½p on an increased revenue guidance for its main operations in the UK and an upwardly revised full-year earnings guidance on its German unit. O2 shares hit an all-time high of 157½p earlier in the day.