The London equities markets were higher on Wednesday after Wall Street opened strongly, with the FTSE 100 up 0.6 percent higher to 5,866.2 and the FTSE 250 adding 0.5 percent to 9.791.1. The energy sector, however, didn’t share in the gains.

British Energy was 1.4 percent lower to 574p, on top of an 8.3 percent decline on Tuesday, as it became clear that the nuclear power generator will not be able to shed any more light on its dividend policy should the government delay its plan to sell its stake in the power company. The government owns 65 percent of BE. Meanwhile, Drax Group, the coal-power generator, dropped 2.4 percent to 835p as Goldman Sachs added it to its sell list.

Also lower was RHM, which fell 1.6 percent to 284½p after a downgrade from Credit Suisse to “neutral” on concerns that the baker will not be able to pass on higher raw materials costs to consumers.

Online gamer PartyGaming dropped 1.9 percent to 101p on a downgrade to “reduce” from UBS, which also cut the internet gambler’s target share price from 135p to 75p.

In the steel sector, Corus Group added 2.8 percent to 369¾p on an upgrade to “overweight” from Morgan Stanley, saying it expects the steel maker to make a deal soon with a low-cost producer of slab steels that could add over 100p to its share price.

British Airways gained 4 percent to 437¾p, a five-and-a-half year high, as crude oil prices continued to decline.

In the telecommunications sector, meanwhile, Cable & Wireless was 3 percent higher to 129¾p ahead of a Thursday presentation on its international operations.

The FTSE 100 dropped 0.9 percent to 5,929.3 on Wednesday for its largest one-day decline in a month after labor data from the United States renewed fears that inflation would grow. In addition, crude oil prices fell again, sending oil stocks lower. The FTSE 250 was also down on the session, by 0.6 percent to 9,700.9.

In the mining sector, Xstrata was 2.3 percent lower to £24.18 on rumors that it will launch a rights issue worth 2.75 billion in order to finance its purchase of Canadian copper and nickel miner Falconbridge.

A number of sectors were weak, with some declines coming on broker downgrades. For example, coal fired power station operator Drax dropped 3.3 percent to 907p on a downgrade from “buy” to “neutral” from Merrill Lynch. Still, Drax is up 82 percent since the beginning of the year.

In the banking sector, Barclays dropped 1.2 percent to 665p on a lengthy “sell” recommendation from Citigroup, which said that new capital adequacy rules will have a harmful effect on Barclays’ investment banking business.

The recommendations were not all negative, however. Next added 0.8 percent to £16.80 on a “buy” recommendation from Deutsche Bank that came just a day after a similar rating by Man Securities. Anglo-Dutch publisher Reed Elsevier also benefited from positive comments, gaining 0.8 percent to 569p after UBS repeated its “buy” recommendation.

Also seeing gains during the session was PartyGaming, up 0.6 percent to 117¼p.

After Monday’s holiday, London markets resumed trade on Tuesday with slightly higher volumes of 2.2 billion shares traded and small gains in both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250. The 100 added 0.17 percent to 5,888.3 after going as high as 5,921.3 earlier in the session, while the 250 was 0.4 percent higher to 9,531.8

Airlines and cruise ship operators benefited from declining oil prices, which dropped below $70 dollars per gallon. Cruise ship operator Carnival added 2.6 percent to £21.74. Among airlines, British Airways was up 4 percent to 414¼p and EasyJet gained 4.5 percent to 454½p.

Brewers were up on the day as well. Diageo added 0.1 percent to 945p ahead of its full-year report, due on Thursday. SABMiller gained 0.6 percent to £10.13. Both were said to be interested in bidding for Australian drinks company Foster’s.

Another of the day’s gainers was plumber and buildings materials group Wolseley, which added 2.2 percent to £10.89 ahead of an interim report due next month. The gains came after Wolseley lost a quarter of its value recently.

Among losers on the day was MFI Furniture Group, which dropped 4.2 percent to 85p on reports that the sale of its losing retail business in the UK ahs run into problems. Also lower was coal-fueled power station operator Drax, down 1.8 percent to 902p.

The London equities markets were higher on Thursday, helped out by better performance yesterday and today in the New York markets. The FTSE 100 added 1.99 percent to 5,791.5, while the FTSE 250 gained 1.1 percent to 9,303.5. There was a bit more activity, with 2.8 billion shares trading hands during the session.

In the banking sector, Lloyds TSB was up 2.3 percent to 529p amid rumors that Citibank was going to make an offer. HBOS advanced by 0.3 percent to 940p when Morgan Stanley successfully placed 12.5 million shares at that price on behalf of an institutional client.

Miners saw gains as Citigroup predicted that there would be further consolidation in the sector and as metals prices went higher. Xstrata gained 5.8 percent to £19.88, while Kazakhmys was up 5.9 percent to £11.76 and Vedanta Resources added 6.7 percent to £13.36.

The utilities sector, on the other hand, was down on the session. British Energy fell 0.4 percent to 671p, while Drax Group dropped 2.4 percent to 824p after the government released proposed quotas for the second phase of its Emissions Trading Scheme and ahead of its first-half trading report. The government plan allots Drax between 1 million and 1.5 million tonnes less in free allowances for emissions than had been expected.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, AstraZeneca was up 3.5 percent to £32.42 on an upgraded recommendation to “add” on better sales than expected for several of its products.

PartyGaming added 0.6 percent to 114¼p as rumors circulated that it will purchase a sports betting company.