The London equities markets saw gains on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100 adding 0.7 percent to 6,150.4 and the FTSE 250 gaining 1.2 percent on the session to close at 10,342.

The media sector saw gains after upgrades for the sector. BSkyB was 0.9 percent higher to 552½p after JP Morgan said that it could top its target for subscribers for 2010. Elsewhere in the sector, Johnston Press added 2.3 percent to 428¾p, while Trinity Mirror gained 3 percent to 502½p and Daily Mail & General Trust was up 3.1 percent to 657p.

Steelmaker Corus added 1.7 percent to 487p on rumors that CSN, the Brazilian steelmaker was ready to top Tata Steel’s bid, worth 455p per share. The bid rumors were denied after the close of the session.

In the energy sector, British Energy was up 5.2 percent to 474p on rumors that a European utility could bid for the UK government’s 65 percent of the company. On the other hand, National Grid dropped 1.6 percent to 674½p.

The retail sector was also mixed, with Tesco up 1.5 percent to 390p, a record high share price, on speculation that it will raise its earnings forecast. However, clothing retailer Next dropped 1 percent to £18.51 on rumors that it is preparing to issue a profits warning.

London equities markets were lower again on Friday. After gains early in the day, the FTSE 100 ended up 21.9 points lower at 5,597.4 as miners lost value on China’s steps to slow down economic growth. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 dropped 8 points to end the day at 9,093.8. Over the week, the 100 lost 1 percent, while the 250 actually managed to gain 0.8 percent.

The 100 will lose three stocks beginning Monday, and all three were lower. Ladbrokes dropped 3.4 percent to 372¼p, while Daily Mail and General lost 2p to 600 and Cable & Wireless fell ½p to 109½p.

In the utilities sector, Scottish Power added 3.9 percent to 577½p for the largest gain on the 100. Most analysts put the gain to a positive evaluation of its PPM Energy division, which is the second biggest wind farm operator in the United States. Others said that it was helped by bid talk, as rumor had it that Scottish & Southern Energy is preparing an offer. Scottish & Southern added 0.2 percent to £11.13.

Retailer Marks & Spencer was up 3.3 percent to 573p on a “buy” recommendation from Deutsche Bank after having lost 13 percent in the past month. Also in retail, supermarket chain William Morrison added 2.4 percent to 199¼p and 50 million shares changed hands as bid rumors circulated.

In the mining sector, Rio Tinto dropped 1 percent to £27.17, while BHP Billiton declined by 2.2 percent to 960p.

The London equities markets ended the day and the week at high levels on Friday, as the mining, banking, and energy sectors saw gains but retail and newspapers were hit by declines.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.3 percent on the day and 1.4 percent on the week to 5,846.2, its highest closing since June 2001. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 closed at an all-time high of 9,472.8, up 1.1 percent on the day and 1.6 percent on the week.

Mining stocks advanced on the news of a possible bid for Lonmin, the world’s third-largest platinum producer. A number of companies were considered possible bidders for the £3.8 billion company. Lonmin was up 24.8 percent on the news to £26.71. Other platinum miners were also up, with Aquarius Platinum gaining 14.8 percent to 700p and African Platinum rising 16.3 percent to 25p. Even non-platinum miners benefited, as Anglo American rose 6.1 percent to £21.45.

In the energy sector, Urals Energy gained 20 percent to 360p on an initial Morgan Stanley rating of “overweight” and a price target of 413p. Elsewhere, Empyrean Energy was up 18 percent to 137½p.

Rumors that Bradford & Bingley was readying a bid for Northern Rock sent shares in both firms. Northern Rock shares were up to £12.07 at one point, but settled at £11.50, a gain of 4.6 percent. Bradford & Bingley gained 2.8 percent to 461½p.

Shares in newspapers lost ground after Daily Mail & General Trust said it would not sell its Northcliffe regional news division. The Daily Mail dropped 12.5 percent to 652p. The announcement also affected others in the sector, with Johnston Press declining 6.4 percent to 457 p, while Trinity Mirror dropped 2.9 percent to 603p.

Investec reduced its rating of retailer Marks & Spencer to “hold” from “buy”, warning that sales, especially clothing sales, has fallen off significantly since Christmas. As a result, Marks & Spencer fell 1.3 percent to 507½p.