In London on Thursday the FTSE 100 added 0.83 percent to 6,486.4 and the FTSE 250 was up 1.38 percent to 11,039.5.

Banks were higher on the 100.

HBOS (LSE: HBOS) gained 4.93 percent to 916p, while Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) was 6.32 percent higher to 193.5p.

Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL) had the best day on the blue chip index as it added 8.46 percent to 795p.

Insurer Standard Life (LSE: SLET) was also higher, gaining 5.91 percent to 291.25p.

House builder Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) jumped 6.59 percent to 275p.

Over on the 250, online gambler PartyGaming (LSE: PRTY) put in the best performance as it added 7.41 percent to 29p.

Commodity-related sectors didn’t have as good a day.

Among miners, Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP; ASX: AQP; JSE: AQP) had the worst day on the 250 with a decline of 7.09 percent to £17.31.

Over on the 100, Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) fell 2.47 percent to £20.57 and Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) was down 1.69 percent to £14.55.

In the oil sector, Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW; OTC: TUWLY) was 1.93 percent lower to 585p.

JKX Oil & Gas (LSE: JKX) dropped 3.34 percent to 333p.

Caterer Compass Group (LSE: CPG) had the worst day on the 100, where it fell 2.97 percent to 310.75p.

There were substantial gains in London on Tuesday, where the FTSE 100 added 2.48 percent to 6,360.1 and the FTSE 250 was 2.26 percent higher to 11,321.9.

Insurer Standard Life (LSE: SLET) had the best day on the 100 as it added 6.38 percent to 308.5p, while Friends Provident (LSE: FP) was right behind with a gain of 5.97 percent to 187p.

Miners were also higher on the 100, with Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) up 4.17 percent to £17.89 as Anglo American (LSE: AAL) added 5.18 percent to £29.04 as metals prices were on the rise.

Caterer Compass Group (LSE: CPG) was 5.28 percent higher to 334p.

Meanwhile, easyJet (LSE: EZJ) had the best day on the 250, adding 12.91 percent to 511.5p as Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) added the discount airline to its “conviction buy” list.

Other big gainers on the 250 included oil equipment manufacturer Rotork (LSE: ROR), which was 12.87 percent higher to £10.35.

Home builder Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) was up 9.83 percent to 330.25 on first half profits that were better than had been anticipated.

The biggest loss on the 250 came for retail bakery chain Greggs (LSE: GRG), which dropped 3.41 percent to £49.10.

The worst performer on the 100 was chemicals group Reckitt Benckiser (LSE: RB), down 0.41 percent to €26.52.

The only other decliner on the 100 was property investor Liberty International (LSE: LII), which dropped 0.29 percent to £10.38.

London’s markets were lower on the dayFriday, but not nearly as steeply as they were on Thursday.

The FTSE 100 fell 0.58 percent to 6,215.2, while the FTSE 250 was down 0.44 percent to 10.984.5.

Miners posted the worst performances on both the 100 and the 250 as Anglo American (LSE: AAL) dropped 3.86 percent to £27.43 on the 100 and Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP; ASX: AQP) fell 7.37 percent to £13.58.

Also in the sector, Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) was down 3.43 percent to 675p, while Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) was 3.68 percent lower to £16.22.

Online property search group Rightmove (LSE: RMV) also saw declines, dropping 6.09 percent to 547.5p, while human resources group STHREE (LSE: STHR) was 5.75 percent lower to 410.5p.

Caterer Compass Group (LSE: CPG) fell 2.81 percent to 311p.

Chemicals group Reckitt Benckiser (LSE: RB) had the best day on the 100 as it gained 3.19 percent to £26.84.

Publisher Emap (LSE: EMA) was the best performer on the 250, where it added 12.7 percent to 860.5p.

Another publishers, Johnston Press (LSE: JPR) was 4.69 percent higher to 385p.

Retailers also had gains on the 250.

GAME Group (LSE: EBQ) added 4.77 percent to 186.75p, while home shopping retailer Findel (LSE: FADV) gained 4.83 percent to 683.5p.

In the banking sector, Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) was up 3.12 percent to 793.5p.

Electric power transmitter National Grid (LSE: NG) and airplane engine maker Rolls-Royce (LSE: RR) each added 2.47 percent, to 704p and 508.5p respectively.

The London equities markets were lower on Friday, with the FTSE 100 down 0.2 percent to 6,149.5. The FTSE 250 dropped 0.1 percent to 11,556.4. Only 2.6 billion shares traded hands in a day of light trade. Despite the slow day and the declines, the 100 added 0.6 percent over the full week and the 250 was up 0.3 percent over the five sessions.

The retail sector saw gains. After an upgrade from “sell” to “buy” from Societe Generale, Kingfisher added 3.5 percent to 259½p. The broker also raised Kingfisher’s target share price to 342p. Next gained 1.8 percent to £20.93, also on an upgrade. Goldman Sachs raised its rating on the clothing retailer from “neutral” to “buy”, calling it a consolidation target.

Caterer Compass gained 0.9 percent to 312p after issuing a positive trading update.

Amvescap was 1.5 percent higher to 632p after it said it was thinking about changing its primary lisitng to the US. The fund manager, which is in process of changing its name to Invesco, does the vast majority of its business in North America. Citigroup said that if Amvescap does switch its listing, share prices could go up. Currently its share price is around 20 percent lower than US rivals such as T Rowe Price.

In the media sector, Gcap Media dropped 9.9 percent to 217p after UBS placed 13.6 million shares of the owner of Capital Radio for an institutional client at a price of 225p. That number of shares represents 8.2 percent of the company.

In London on Thursday equities markets were up as the FTSE 100 closed at 5,684.1, a gain of 0.3 percent, while the FTSE 250 added 1.1 percent to 9,192.8. Trade volumes are still lower than average, with 2.85 billion shares traded during the day. So far this week, the 100 has risen 1.5 percent and the 250 is up 1 percent.

Among homebuilders, Persimmon added 4.1 percent to £11.93 amid rumors that it is looking for a new purchase.

PartyGaming was up 3.1 percent to 123p, also on rumors that it is looking to buy. The talk is that the online gaming company wants to purchase a “bricks and mortar” gaming business.

Compass Group gained 3.6 percent to 258p, bringing its rise since last week Wednesday to 12.6 percent on the news that US investors have been buying shares in the contract caterer.

Construction company WS Atkins added 8.7 percent to 840p on full-year earnings that beat expectations, making it the biggest gainer on the 250 for the day.

The best-performing stock on the 100 was pest control group Rentokil Initial, which gained 4.5 percent to 149¾p on an upgrade from “underperform” to “outperform” and a new target share price of 171p from Morgan Stanley.

In the airlines sector, EasyJet added 2.8 percent to 392¾p on comments from Citigroup. British Airways, however, dropped 5.9 percent to 346p after it became known that its offices had been raided by the Office of Fair Trading in the course of a US/UK investigation into price-fixing.