In London on Thursday, the FTSE 100 dropped 1.02 percent to 6,609.4 and the FTSE 250 was 1.1 percent lower to 11,411.6.

House builders and property developers and investors did poorly on both indices.

Investor and developer Brixton (LSE: BXTN) was down 4.42 percent to 345.75p, while Hammerson (LSE: HMSO) was 4.74 percent lower to £10.66.

Quintain Estates & Development (LSE: QED) dropped 4.87 percent to 673.5p and St. Modwen Properties (LSE: SMP) fell 4.9 percent to 480.75p.

Builder and developer Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV) was down 5.12 percent to 658.5 while Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) dropped 5.15 percent to 253.25.

In addition, building materials group Wolseley (LSE: WOS) was 4.57 percent lower to 786p.

The biggest loser on the 100, however, was consumer electronics retailer DSG International (LSE: DSGI), which fell 8.75 percent to 124.1p after it reported that first half profits were hurt by poor sales.

Elsewhere in the retail sector, sporting goods retailer Sports Direct (LSE: SPD) dropped 5.11 percent to 148.5p.

Medical devices manufacturer Smith & Nephew (LSE: SN) turned in the best performance on the 100 with a gain of 2.67 percent to 615p.

Other gainers included beverage cans maker Rexam (LSE: REX), which was up 1.99 percent to 538p and pubs operator Mitchells & Butlers (LSE: MAB) with a gain of 1.58 percent to 641p.

London’s equities markets saw gains Wednesday as some banks were higher.

The FTSE 100 added 0.56 percent to 6,433 while the FTSE 250 gained 0.33 percent to 10,889.3.

Banks were higher on the 100, led by Northern Rock (LSE: NRK), which was up 11.59 percent to 182p after it said it had received some approaches to buy, as well an offer.

HBOS (LSE: HBOS) was 5.12 percent higher to 873p after Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) added it to its “conviction buy” list, while Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL) gained 3.4 percent to 733p.

Internet price comparison site Moneysupermarket.com (LSE: MONY) was the best performer of the day on the 250 as it added 5.49 percent to 173p.

Miners were mixed.

Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP; ASX: AQP; JSE: AQP) was 5.37 percent higher to £18.63 on the 250, but Xstrata (LSE: XTA) was down 1.44 percent on the 100 to £31.49.

DSG International (LSE: DSGI) had the worst day on the 100, where it dropped 3.71 percent to 129.9p after Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS; SWX: CSGN) cut the retailer’s target share price from 155p to 95p.

Elsewhere in the retail sector, Carphone Warehouse (LSE: CPW) was down 2.1 percent to 350.25p.

Over on the 250, computer software and video game retailer GAME Group (LSE: GAME) fell 6.93 percent to 188p.

The worst performance on the 250 came from the oil sector, where JKX Oil & Gas (LSE: JKX) was 7.02 percent lower to 344.5p.

London’s equities markets were up significantly on Tuesday.

The FTSE 100 added 2.39 percent to 6,280.7, while the FTSE 250 gained 2.16 percent to 11,212.3.

There were only two losers on the 100.

Consumer electronics retailer DSG International (LSE: DSGI) dropped 0.2 percent to 146.9p.

Pest control and facilities services group Rentokil Initial (LSE: RTO; OTC: RTOKY) had the worst day on the 100 as it fell 0.52 percent to 170.9p.

Meanwhile, sports retailers had a bad day on the 250. Sports Direct (LSE: SPD) was 4.55 percent lower to 131p, while JJB Sports (LSE: SPD) had the worst day on the 250 with a decline of 14.20 percent to 172.25p on a profits warning.

There were gains in the retail sector, however.

Clothing retailer Next (LSE: NXT) added 4.25 percent to £19.40, while food retailer Tesco (LSE: TSCO) was up 4.39 percent to 433.5p.

In the mining sector, BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT; NYSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) gained 4.25 percent to £14.71.

The best performance on the 100 came from the banking sector, where Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) was 4.74 percent higher to 607.5p after it said it had a profitable month in August.

Electronics engineers Aveva Group (LSE: AVV) was the best performer on the 250 with a gain of 6.7 percent to 940p. Property developer Minerva (LSE: MNR) added 6.34 percent to 272.5p.

The London markets were higher Thursday.

The FTSE 100 added 1.3 percent to 6,212 and the FTSE 250 was 1.91 percent higher to 11,099.5.

Property developers and investors were mixed on the session. While Liberty International (LSE: LII) was 3.78 percent higher to £11.80, Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV) was 0.22 percent lower to 903p.

Retailers saw declines.

Kingfisher (LSE: KFG) fell 0.24 percent to 207p and DSG International (LSE: DSGI) was the worst performer on the 100 with a decline of 1.59 percent to 154.8p.

In the oil sector, BG Group (LSE: BG; NYSE: BG) had the best day on the 100, gaining 4.27 percent to 782p as oil prices rose.

Still, oil refiner Hunting (LSE: HTG) was the worst perfomer on the 250, dropping 7.28 percent to 700p.

Other gainers on the day included pubs operator Enterprise Inns (LSE: ETI), which added 3.17 percent to 634.5p.

Brewer SAB Miller (LSE: SAB) was 3.51 percent to £13.26.

In London on Wednesday, the FTSE 100 added 1.81 percent to 6,196 and the FTSE 250 was up 2.55 percent to 10,910.7.

Miners were higher on the day after BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT; NYSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) announced that its underlying profit was up 35 percent in the full year on increased demand from China and on higher commodity prices.

BHP was 4.92 percent higher to £13.65, taking other miners with it.

Anglo-American (LSE: AAL) was up 4.68 percent to £27.52, while Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) gained 6.19 percent to 694.5p and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) added 6.81 percent to £32.80 and Lonmin (LSE: LMI) jumped 7.22 percnet to £31.77.

Pubs operator Punch Taverns (LSE: PUB) added 6.4 percent to £10.39 on positive broker comment.

Rivals Mitchells & Butlers (LSE: MAB) and Enterprise Inns (LSE: ETI) were also higher, gaining 3.8 percent to 704p and 5.8 percent to 611p respectively.

Some banks also saw gains. HSBC (LSE: HSBA; NYSE: HBC; Euronext: HSBC; SEHK: 005) was up 1.2 percent to 907p after it said it will close an office in Indiana next year and will eliminate 600 jobs on account of subprime problems.

Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN; SEHK: 2888) gained 2.2 percent to £15.75, while Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) added 3.7 percent to 728p.

Construction-related shares did well on the 250.

Construction engineering firm Keller Group (LSE: KLR) added 6.88 percent to 987p.

Atkins (LSE: ATK), which offers construction management and consulting services, was up 8.61 percent to £10.28, while builder Severfield-Rowen (LSE: SFR) was the best perfomrer of the day on the 250 as it gained 8.83 percent to £22.68.

The oil sector was mixed.

JKX Oil & Gas (LSE: JKX) had the worst day on the 250, falling 4.25 percent to 354.75.

On the other hand, Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW; OTC: TUWLY) was 4.4 percent higher to 483p after it said it had made a “significant” discovery offshore near Ghana.

The worst performer on the 100 was Scottish & Southern Energy (LSE: SSE) with a drop of 2.94 percent to £13.85.

In the telecommunications sector, Vodafone (LSE: VOD; NYSE: VOD; FWB: VOD) was 0.26 percent lower to 156p, while BT Group (LSE: BT.A; NYSE: BT) dropped 2.24 percent to 305p.

In the retail sector, DSG International (LSE: DSGI) was down 0.63 percent to 159p.

London equities markets were lower on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100 down 0.2 percent to 6,204.5 and the FTSE 250 down 0.3 percent to 11,094.6. Volume was at an active 3.5 billion shares traded on the session.

The retail sector was widely mixed. J Sainsbury was 0.6 percent higher to 427p on rumors that a group of Icelandic investors had bought a stake of nearly 3 percent in the supermarket.

On the other hand, department store Debenhams was 0.4 percent lower to 170¼p after going as low as 168¾p earlier in the session on rumors that an investor has taken advantage of low its low share price to build a stake. A volume of 40 million shares in the company changing hands on Tuesday and 33 million more shares traded on Wednesday added substance to the rumors.

Electrical retailer DSG International, meanwhile, fell 12 percent to 171p on a trading statement that disappointed.

Publishers had a good day. Reed Elsevier gained 0.4 percent to 598½p, while Pearson was up 3 percent to 824½p after it was said that private equity group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts might be interested.

In the oil sector, Royal Dutch Shell dropped 0.2 percent to £17.11 on the low price of oil.

SABMiller added 4.7 percent for the best performance on the 100, trading at £12.26. The brewer’s fiscal third quarter figures were better than had been anticipated.

The London equities markets made little headway on Wednesday as investors took profits and waited to see new data from out of the United States before spending too much money. At midday, the FTSE 100 was 0.1 percent higher to 6,315.9, while the FTSE 250 was up just 4.1 points to 11,316.6. By the end of the day the 100 had managed just a bit more, closing up 0.13 percent to 6319.

Miners were down during the day, caught up in the profit taking. Vedanta Resources dropped 4.5 percent to £11.75, while Xstrata fell 4.6 percent to £24.48 and Antofagasta was 5.2 percent lower to 489p.

Shares in tobacco companies were higher after falling on Tuesday on the news that government officials in the UK are thinking about raising the legal smoking age from 16 to 18. Imperial Tobacco added 0.9 percent to £20.55, while British American Tobacco gained 1.4 percent to £14.80.

The financial sector was up as well after UBS issued positive comments on the sector as a whole. Northern Rock was 1.4 percent higher to £12.10, while Alliance & Leicester also added 1.4 percent, to £11.69. Royal Bank of Scotland gained 1.8 percent to £20.73.

Retailers also saw gains. Next added 1.3 percent to £18.65, while DSG International was 1.7 percent higher to 198¾p.

In a short session ahead of the long Christmas weekend, the FTSE 100 added 0.1 percent to 6,190.0. The FTSE 250 was also higher, gaining 0.2 percent to 11,083.5. Volumes were extremely light, with fewer than 1 billion shares changing hands. The 250 was even on the week, while the 100 dropped 1.1 percent from its opening level on Monday.

The retail sector was mixed. Marks & Spencer added 1 percent to 721p, a record high, as Credit Suisse reaffirmed its “outperform” rating. On the other hand, DSG International, owner of Currys and Dixons, dropped 188¾p after Credit Suisse labeled it an underperformer. HMV, the book and music retailer, dropped 3.1 percent to 142¼p on a downgrade from Goldman Sachs after it issued a profit warning earlier in the week.

Premier Foods dropped 5.3 percent to 300p after it said that its yearly profits would only make the low end of predictions. It said the drop was due to the fact that many people had been putting off shopping for Christmas because of mild weather.

Gainers included Centrica, which gained 3 percent to 356p on a target price upgrade from Citigroup, which said that the energy company would benefit from a drop in wholesale gas prices. Also seeing gains was Intercontinental Hotels Group. The Holiday Inn chain operator gained 4.8 percent to £12.17 on bids rumours.

London equities markets were up on Tuesday, but just barely, with the FTSE 100 adding 0.08 percent to 5,918.7 and the FTSE 250 gaining 0.01 percent to 9,761 in a late rally that brought both indices up from earlier declines. Volume was a bit higher at 2.8 billion shares trading hands during the session.

The oil sector was helped higher on the day by bid rumors. Royal Dutch Shell was said to be interested in bidding for both BG Group, which added 0.9 percent to 690½p, and for Premier Oil, which ended the session 2.1 percent higher to £10.65. Royal Dutch Shell itself gained 0.1 percent to £18.96.

Utilities ended the session lower, with the exception of Centrica, which owns British Gas. Centrica added 1.9 percent to 308¼p even though Gazprom denied rumors that it was interested in making a bid. Vattenfall has also been said to be interested. Elsewhere in the sector, Scottish & Southern dropped 0.4 percent to £12.21, while Scottish Power was 0.5 percent lower to 625½p and United Utilities fell 0.7 percent to 685½p.

In the retail sector, Next was 0.6 percent higher to £16.67 after Man Securities recommended that its clients buy on the strength of a prediction that margins will increase even if sales decline. Meanwhile, DSG International gained 0.9 percent to 209¾p on positive comments from Merrill Lynch.

Among miners, Kazakhmys added 3.4 percent to £13.31 on a repot that its half-year report will show operating profits up by 121 percent.

The equities markets in London were lower on the day, with the FTSE 100 dropping 0.4 percent to 6,083.4 and the FTSE 250 declining by 0.3 percent to 10,108.6. Part of the declines were accounted for by a general lack of interest ahead of a new interest rate decision by the US Federal Reserve.

The retail sector was strong on the day. Electricals retailer DSG International added 7 percent to 207¾p for the biggest gain in the FTSE 100 on the day after it said that profits for the fiscal year to be higher than had been expected due to better sales in the second half of the year. Elsewhere in the sector, GUS added 1.6 percent to £10.71 and Next was up 2.3 percent to £17.66. Helped by bids rumors, Kingfisher added 2.1 percent to 243½p.

Among insurers, Prudential added 1.2 percent to 660p on rumors that rival Aviva was interested in a merger, based on a set of answers to “frequently asked questions” issued at Aviva’s annual meeting of shareholders. Analysts pointed out, however, that Takeover Panel rules stipulate that Aviva cannot offer another bid until September unless the two companies mutually agree to a deal. Aviva was down 0.3 percent on the day to 802p.

There were declines in the oil and pharmaceuticals sectors. BP dropped 1.2 percent to 674½p, while GlaxoSmithKline was down 1 percent to £15.40.