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.

In London’s equities markets on Thursday, the FTSE 100 was up, but only by 3.8 points to 5,900.4 and the FTSE 250 added 0.4 percent to 9,486.6 as miners and airlines saw advances but the oil sector was mostly lower.

Dropping crude oil prices sent shares in air carriers up as British Airways added 2.7 percent to 293p and EasyJet was 3 percent higher to 425½p. Lower costs for oil also helped cruise operators, as Carnival gained 6.4 percent to £21.72.

The oil sector, on the other hand, saw losses on the day as both Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group fell 1 percent, to £19.17 and 708p respectively. The exception was Cairn Energy, which added 3 percent to £20.80 on Merrill Lynch’s repeated “buy” recommendation, which cited the IPO of Cairn’s India operations as likely to send share prices higher.

Bids rumors sent the mining sector higher. Anglo American added 2 percent to £24.20 as Morgan Stanley commented that mergers and acquisitions are driving the sector and raised the miner’s recommendation from “underweight” to “overweight”. Meanwhile, Vedanta Resources gained 3.1 percent to £13.83 on positive comments from Goldman Sachs.

M & A rumors also sent Corus Group up by 3.2 percent to 407½p with the talk that Evraz and Severstal are both looking at offering for the steel maker.

Among loser on the day was SAB Miller, which dropped 2.9 percent to £10.40 when UBS lowered their recommendation on the brewer from “buy” to “neutral”.

Equities markets in London were mixed on Thursday, with the FTSE 100 dropping 0.1 percent to 5,770.9 but the FTSE 250 up by 22.8 points to 9,207.2.

The aerospace sector managed gains on the day. Ultra Electronics, which supplies targeting systems for fighter aircraft, added 15.1 percent to £11 on bids rumors. BAE Systems was up by 1.8 percent to 347¼p, while Rolls Royce advanced by 1.1 percent to 411¼p.

Airlines also saw their shares advance. British Airways was up 3 percent to 368¼p on anticipation of broker upgrades after it reports its quarterly figures next month and as oil prices declined. Meanwhile, EasyJet gained 4.7 percent to 436½p.

BSkyB advanced by 2.5 percent to 544¼p, after its chief executive presented information on its new broadband business to Deutsche Bank.

The internet gaming sector did not fare as well. SportingBet dropped 3 percent to 174¾p, while PartyGaming was 7.4 percent lower to 87¼p and 888 Holdings fell 9.4 percent to 161p, all on concerns that US shareholders will sell their holdings now that the US Department of Justice is taking measures against gambling on the internet.

Other big losers included MFI Furniture, which was down 20 percent to 85p, and Colt Telecom, 23.3 percent lower to 436½p.

In London on Friday, equities markets saw declines for the day but ended the week slightly higher. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.02 percent to 5,888.9, but its closing level was good for a 1 percent rise over the week. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 ended the session 0.3 percent lower to 9,431.6 but managed and 0.1 percent gain for the week.

The airlines sector saw gains over the week. British Airways was up 3 percent to 359p on the strength of an 8.7 percent gain to 425p by low-cost air carrier EasyJet, which adjusted its full-year profit growth forecast upward to between 40 and 50 percent. Earlier, it had said that profits would grow around 15 percent for the year.

Shire Pharmaceuticals added 1 percent to 811p amid talk that it could be the target of a private equity bid. UBS said that an offer of up to £10.50 per share for Shire could still make a buyer good profit.

Among steelmakers, Corus gained 4.4 percent to 451p as rumors continued that two Russian millionaires, one the owner of Russian company Severstal, are considering a joint bid.

SAB Miller dropped 1 percent on Friday to 960½p as investors feared that this weeks Florida Supreme Court ruling vacating a $145 billion (£79 billion) damages award against US tobacco companies would lead to the sale of 28.7 percent of the brewer by Altria. The concerns have arisen because Altria, which also owns US cigarette maker Phillip Morris, is free to break off parts of its holdings now that it no longer has to worry about paying any part of the damage award. Not all analysts, however, are convinced that Altria will sell its stake in SAB.

PartyGaming dropped 5.9 percent to 108p, also on legal activity in the United States. Investors in the internet gaming company are worried about a debate in the US House of Representatives, scheduled for next week, on legislation that is designed to outlaw online gambling in the US. Analysts expect the new law to pass in the House, but don’t believe that it will make it to the Senate for a vote before elections in November.

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.

The London equities markets were down on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.5 percent to 5,725.1, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.1 percent to 9,240.7 on a trading volume of 3.6 billion shares.

Mining stocks were down on the day as metals prices continued to decline. Kazakhmys fell 3.8 percent to 819 ½p. Rio Tinto dropped 2.6 percent to £27.81. Antofagasta declined 3.2 percent to £20.13. Anglo-American was down not only on falling metals prices but also on a ratings cut from Citigroup, slipping from “buy” to “hold. Anglo-American fell 3.6 percent to £20.12.

Also down on the day was budget airline EasyJet, which fell 0.2 percent to 376 ½p even though the airline’s chief executive bought 134,000 shares at 374.17p each during the day.

Elsewhere, things seemed to be a bit better. Airport operator BAA gained 14.9 percent to 172 ½p when it was announced that Groupo Ferrovial of Spain was thinking about offering for the company. BAA said that it had not yet received an official bid.

GlaxoSmithKline gained 0.9 percent to £14.75 in anticipation of the pharmaceutical company’s fourth-quarter and full-year earnings reports, which are due soon.

Household goods group Reckitt Benckiser was up on Tuesday’s release of a full-year earnings report that had overall earnings in line with predictions and margins, earnings, and cash flow metrics had all exceeded expectations. The company’s shares rose 2.2 percent on the day to £19.78.