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.

Equities markets were higher in London on Thursday as the FTSE 100 added 0.4 percent to 6,380.9 and the FTSE 250 also gained 0.4 percent to 11,584.4.

Miners advanced on the session on higher prices for copper, which were up by around 6 percent on the session. Antofagasta (LSE:ANTO) gained 3.4 percent to 489p, while Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) added 3.6 percent to £11.65 and Xstrata (LSE: XTA) was 3.7 percent higher to £25.72.

The tobacco sector was mixed. Imperial Tobacco (LSE: IMT) was down 0.3 percent to £21.93 when Altadis (IBEX-35: ALT) of Spain denied rumors that it could make a joint bid for the company along with Philip Morris (NYSE: MO). On the other hand, British American Tobacco (LSE: BATS; AMEX: BTI; KLSE: BAT) added 0.5 percent to £15.74 as investors hoped that it would introduce increased share buybacks and cost-cutting measures when it issues its full-year report next week.

Emap (LSE: EMA) gained 0.8 percent to 737p as rumors circulated that it might offer one of its divisions for sale. Several buyers were suggested as possibly being interested in different units. In addition, Panmure Gordon upgraded the media group to “buy”.

The equities markets were up in London on Tuesday, helped by new data that shows consumer confidence in the United States up more than had been expected in September. The FTSE 100 was 1.3 percent higher to 5,873.6, while the FTSE 250 gained 0.9 percent to 9,844.9. Mergers and acquisitions speculation was another driving force on the session.

In the steel sector, Corus added 3.6 percent to 377¼p on continuing talk about its pursuit of a low-cost steel slab producer in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) region. Morgan Stanley recently said that such a deal could produce a 100p per hike in Corus’ share prices.

Other bids rumors sent Scottish Power up 3 percent to 634p as rumors spread that Eon could bid for the utility if its effort to buy Endsea doesn’t work out. In the airlines sector, rumors that British Airways is in merger talks with Iberia sent BA 0.6 percent higher to 429p.B

Plumber and building materials group Wolseley gained 4.1 percent to £11.39 on a better than expected full-year report. Elsewhere in the sector, building materials supplier Hanson added 6.2 percent to 730p as rumors continued that Cemex is preparing a bid.

Among miners, Rio Tinto gained 3.5 percent to £24.34 on talk that it will propose an off-market buyback of London-traded shares for £25 per share.

Emap added 2.6 percent to 741p after the publisher received an upgrade to “buy” from Goldman Sachs.

Among losers on the session, BSkyB was 1.3 percent lower to 542p on talk that one of its brokers had been informed that its forecasts were too high by 10 percent. BSkyB denied the rumors.

The equities markets in London took significant losses on Thursday as 2.9 billion shares changed hands during the day. The FTSE 100 fell 1.6 percent to 5,765 as miners fell substantially, while the media sector took the FTSE 250 2 percent lower to 9,176.2.

In the mining sector, BHP Billiton was down 3.9 percent to £10.51, Lonmin dropped 4.4 percent to £27.77, and Vedanta Resources fell 5.2 percent to £13.36. The losses reflected investor reluctance to take any risks at the present time.

On the other hand, oil exploration stocks rose with crude oil prices. Premier Oil added 0.8 percent to 957p, while Dana Petroleum gained 1.6 percent to £10.97.

In the media sector, EMI dropped 9.2 percent to 277¾p on the news that a European court had overruled the European Union’s approval of a merger between Sony Music and BMG as investors worried that the ruling might affect the proposed EMI/Warner deal, Meanwhile, Emap fell 14.9 percent to 712p after issuing a negative trading statement.

In the banking sector, Standard Chartered was down by 2.9 percent to £12.49 on concerns that it will need to raise $5 billion (£2.7 billion) if it wins the bidding for LG Card, the largest credit card issuer in South Korea. Analysts also pointed out that, with Standard Chartered’s purchase of Korea First Bank last year, the acquisition of LG Card would leave SC too heavily exposed to South Korea.

Gains on the FTSE 100 were few and limited. Rising oil prices took BP up just 0.1 percent to 641p. National grid gained 0.3 percent to 590p, while Tesco added 0.9 percent to 335p.

In London on Wednesday the FTSE 100 had its highest close since February 2001 as it gained 0.76 percent to 6,089.8. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was up even more, adding 0.89 percent to 9.871.8.

The construction materials sector was up on comments indicating that the US Federal Reserve might be nearly finished raising interest rates for the time being. Companies with large US operations should see benefit should this be the case. Hanson was up 4.25 percent to 760½p, while Wolseley added 3.9 percent to £14.03. Also benefiting from the news on interest rates was Taylor Woodrow. With 40 percent of its business in the United States, the homebuilder gained 1.3 percent to 387¼p.

Publisher Emap added 3.6 percent to 869½p on rumors that several entities are interested in purchasing its French business. Once it sheds that unit, Emap itself was said to be a possible target for bids.

Casino operator London Clubs International added 7 percent to 115p, also on bids rumors. There is talk that Ladbrokes will try for LCI once it sells its Hilton hotel interests. US group Boyd Gaming is also said to be interested. Ladbrokes was up 0.4 percent to 418½p on the day.

Leisure group Rank, owner of Grosvenor Casinos, was up 2.15 percent to 225½p on a reiteration of a recommendation to “buy” from Citigroup, citing it as an attractive takeover target if it gets rid of its losing Deluxe Media business. Elsewhere in the sector, Stanley Leisure added 4.5 percent to 713½p and William Hill advanced by 1.16 percent to 609½p.

Imperial Tobacco was up 4 percent to £17.54, a five-year high share price, on speculation that it would make an offer for Franco-Spanish tobacco company Altadis before the year is out. JP Morgan said that the deal was likely due to a combination of Imperial being in a strong position and Altadis’ share prices being weak. Along with these comments, JP Morgan also raised Imperial’s target share price from £18.50 to £20.00.

The FTSE 100 had its worst day since last October while the FTSE 250 was also down on the day. The FTSE 100 lost 1.4 percent to 5,791.5 and the FTSE 250 was down 0.6 percent to 9,448.3.

The banking sector was mixed. Royal Bank of Scotland was up 2.7 percent to £19.09 when it announced that it would return £1 billion to shareholders in a buy-back rather than spend the money on a major acquisition. However Alliance & Leicester dropped 5 percent to £10.69 on investor displeasure over its full-year report, issued Monday.

Among gainers on the day was media group Emap gained 3.5 percent to 91¾p, its highest share price in several years, on the news that it will sell its French consumer titles and return part of the money to shareholders. Tobacco company BAT was up 2.3 percent to £13.59, its highest share price ever, on a strong full-year report. Oil and gas group Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping advanced 18.3 percent to 103½p.

Other companies in the oil and gas sector did not fare so well on the day. CDS Oil & Gas dropped 19.4 percent to 6.25p on the news that its first test well for its Chaco Basin project in Paraguay did not produce the expected results. Elixir Petroleum, listed on Aim, was down 42.9 percent to 26¼p when it announced that explorations in the North Sea had failed to find commercially exploitable hydrocarbons.