London’s markets were lower again on Friday.

The FTSE 100 dropped 1.23 percent to 6,527.9 while FTSE 250 fell 0.98 percent to 11,299.3.

Insurer Resolution (LSE: RSL) had the best day on the 100 as it gained 2.12 percnet to 722p.

Housebuilders and the construction sector more generally were higher on both the 100 and the 250.

Persimmon (LSE: PSN) was up 1.15 percent to 971p and Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV) was 1.29 percent higher to 667p on the 100, while over on the 250 house builder Redrow (LSE: RDW) gained 3.03 percent to 383p and construction group Alfred McAlpine (LSE: MCA) added 3.54 percent to 555p.

Other gainers included paper group DS Smith (LSE: SMPS), which was up 5.31 percent to 228p on the 250.

Brewer Scottish & Newcastle (LSE: SCTN) was 1.19 percent higher to 766.5p on the 100.

Banks were lower, with Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) again leading the losers on the 100 with a decline of 8.61 percent to 186.9p.

Elsewhere in the sector, HBOS (LSE: HBOS) dropped 2.91 percent to 835p.

In the pharmaceuticals sector Astra Zeneca (LSE: AZN; NYSE: AZN) was down 3.64 percent to £24.61 after the revocation of an inhaler patent by European authorities and a downgrade from “neutral” to “sell” by UBS.

Advertising group WPP (LSE: WPP; NAS: WPPGY) fell 4.18 percent to 665p after it reported quarterly revenues that were at the low end of expectations.

London’s equities markets saw gains on the session Wednesday.

The FTSE 100 was 0.27 percent higher to 6,633 and the FTSE 250 gained 0.74 percent to 11,512.1.

In the banking sector, Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) added 32.29 percent to 273p after a hedge fund based in Monaco purchased a 4 percent stake in the troubled financial institution.

Other banks did not do as well on the day.

Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) was down 1.5 percent to 655.5p, while HBOS (LSE: HBOS) fell 3.09 percent to 926p after Lehman Brothers downgraded the bank from “overweight” to “underweight” and dropped its target share price from £10.46 to £10.28.

Voting shares in investment manager Schroders (LSE: SDR.L) added 5.71 percent to £15, while non-voting shares (LSE: SDRt.L) were up 4.27 percent to £12.94.

Business services group Experian (LSE: EXPN) had the worst day on the 100, where it fell 7 percent to 505p.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, meanwhile, Shire (LSE: SHP; NAS: SHPGY) dropped 2.1 percent to £12.15.

Reinsurer Benfield Group (LSE: BFD) was 2.83 percent lower to 724.25p, while construction group Severfield-Rowen (LSE: SFR) fell 2.65 percent to 552p.

In London on Thursday the FTSE 100 added 0.83 percent to 6,486.4 and the FTSE 250 was up 1.38 percent to 11,039.5.

Banks were higher on the 100.

HBOS (LSE: HBOS) gained 4.93 percent to 916p, while Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) was 6.32 percent higher to 193.5p.

Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL) had the best day on the blue chip index as it added 8.46 percent to 795p.

Insurer Standard Life (LSE: SLET) was also higher, gaining 5.91 percent to 291.25p.

House builder Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) jumped 6.59 percent to 275p.

Over on the 250, online gambler PartyGaming (LSE: PRTY) put in the best performance as it added 7.41 percent to 29p.

Commodity-related sectors didn’t have as good a day.

Among miners, Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP; ASX: AQP; JSE: AQP) had the worst day on the 250 with a decline of 7.09 percent to £17.31.

Over on the 100, Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) fell 2.47 percent to £20.57 and Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) was down 1.69 percent to £14.55.

In the oil sector, Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW; OTC: TUWLY) was 1.93 percent lower to 585p.

JKX Oil & Gas (LSE: JKX) dropped 3.34 percent to 333p.

Caterer Compass Group (LSE: CPG) had the worst day on the 100, where it fell 2.97 percent to 310.75p.

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 markets were higher Thursday, although the FTSE 100 only managed a gain of 0.01 percent to 6,196.9.

The FTSE 250, meanwhile, added 0.32 percent to 10,945.7.

Property developers and house builders had a bad day on the 100.

House builder Persimmon dropped 2.30 percent to £12.23 after ABN Amro (Euronext: AAB; NYSE: ABN) reduced its target share price from £17.20 to £15.30.

Among developers, British Land (LSE: BLND) fell 2.18 percent to £12.58 while SEGRO (LSE: SGRO) was 2.4 percent lower to 529p.

Hammerson (LSE: HMSO) was the worst performer on the 100, dropping 2.45 percent to £12.75.

However, in a related sector WSP Group (LSE: WSH), which specializes in construction management, engineering, and consulting, added 3.13 percent to 676.5p.

Brewer SABMiller (LSE: SAB) was 2.78 percent higher to £12.94.

Investment manager Schroders (LSE: SDR.L) had the best day on the 100 with a gain of 4.22 percent to £13.34, while its non-voting shares (LSE: SDRt.L) added 3.32 percent to £11.53.

Among banks, Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) was up 3.98 percent to 757p.

Other banks seeing gains included Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL), which added 0.19 percent to £10.61. Lloyds TSB (LSE: LLOY) gained 0.27 percent to 553.5p, while HBOS (LSE: HBOS) was 2.05 percent higher to 898p.

In London on Wednesday, the FTSE 100 was 1.8 percent lower to 6,171.6. The decline came after yesterday’s 2.3 percent decline and negated all the gains the index has made since the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 dropped 0.88 percent to 11,082.90. The 100 lost 114.6 points on the day, while the 250 was 98 points lower.

Miners again were among the biggest losers on the day, hurt by indications that Chinese demand for metals will decline. Xstrata (LSE: XTA) dropped 3.4 percent to £23.96, while Anglo American (LSE: AAL) fell 3.6 percent to £24.38.

Banks also had a hard day of it. HBOS (LSE: HBOS) was 4.5 percent lower to £10.81 after it reported an annual profit that was around where analysts had expected it to be but also issued a warning that margins could fall due to less income from default charges that banks were ordered to reduce by the Office of Fair Trade.

Elsewhere in the sector, Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN), which focuses on emerging markets, dropped 1.5 percent to £14.28. Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) was 1.8 percent lower to £11.35, while Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS; NYSE: RBS PRM) fell 2.8 percent to £20.10 and Barclays (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) was down 3.6 percent to 740p.

In London on Tuesday, the FTSE 100 closed 0.3 percent higher to 6,244.0, its highest ending level in five years. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 set a record high closing level of 10,559.9, a gain of 0.6 percent on the session.

Software maker Misys also had a record high close, adding 3.3 percent to 215¼p on the news that US medical software company Per-Se Technology had recommended a cash bid of $1.2 billion (£630 million) from McKesson Corporation. This had implications for Misys in that Per-Se’s largest shareholder is ValueAct Capital; Misys new chief executive, Mike Lawrie, previously worked for ValueAct, which has been building its holdings in Misys since Lawrie’s appointment was announced in mid-October. ValueAct now holds 5.1 percent of Misys.

In the retail sector, Marks & Spencer was 6.3 percent higher to 696p, also a new record, on higher profits forecasts based on its better than expected interim report.

Metal-related sectors saw advances on the session. With zinc prices at a record high level, Xstrata added 1.3 percent to £24.20. Meanwhile, rumors of bids competition sent steel maker Corus 0.1 percent higher to 465¾p, as speculation ran that Novolipetsk might beat Tata Steel’s 455p per share offer.

Banks were lower, with HBOS down 0.4 percent to £10.90 on a downgrade from “outperform” to “in line” from Cazenove. Standard Chartered dropped 0.5 percent to £14.87 on talk that it could be preparing to purchase ABN Amro’s 40 percent share in Saudi Hollandi Bank.

London equities markets were sharply lower on Thursday after the Bank of England announced that it had raised interest rates in the UK by a quarter of a percent to 4.75 percent. Most analysts had not expected the rate hike to come at this time. With 3.2 billion shares changing hands, the FTSE 100 dropped 1.6 percent to close at 5,838.4 and the FTSE 250 was 1.4 percent lower, ending the session at 9,264.3.

Sectors most seriously affected by the rate hike included mortgage banks, homebuilders, and those companies that market homes and land. Among homebuilders, Persimmon was 4 percent lower to £12.42, while Bellway fell 4.3 percent to £11.65 and Barratt Developments dropped 5.1 percent to 945p.

Among those engaged in selling property, Hammerson declined by 3 percent to £12.36, British Land was 3.9 percent lower to £13.24, and Liberty International fell by 4.3 percent to £11.04. Estate agents were also lower. Rightmove dropped 5.8 percent to 270p, while Countrywide fell 8.1 percent to 387p.

In the banking sector, mortgage banks declined on the theory that higher interest rates would mean higher house payments and the possibility that more people would not be able to meet their debts. Northern Rock was down by 1.6 percent to £10.88, while HBOS fell 3 percent to 959p and Alliance & Leicester dropped 3.5 percent to 955p.

There were advances on the day, but they were few and far between. PartyGaming added 0.5 percent to 110p on the news that it has bought internet sports betting company Gamebookers. Broadcaster ITV gained 2.7 percent to 104¼p after adding nearly 5 percent on Wednesday. Wm Morrison was 3.5 percent higher to 213p on higher sales. Citigroup raised the supermarket chain’s target share price from 215p to 240p and reconfirmed it’s “buy” recommendation.

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.

In London on Friday, the FTSE 100 closed up 1.7 percent to 5,655.2, while the FTSE 250 added 2.4 percent to 9,024.7 on a volume of 2.6 billion shares traded. Despite the gains, the 100 closed out the week 1.9 percent lower overall, while the 250 lost 4.5 percent during the week.

Banks contributed to Friday’s gains, with an upgrade from “underweight” to “neutral” from Merrill Lynch, which said that with global economies growing and inflation under control, banks continued to be in a growth phase. HSBC added 1.2 percent to 934p, Royal Bank of Scotland was up 2.6 percent to £17.86, HBOS gained 3.1 percent to 965p on positive comments from Credit Suisse, and Northern Rock advanced by 3.8 percent to £10.05.

Miners also did well. Among the blue chips, Xstrata added 4.3 percent to £18.93 and Anglo American was up 4.9 percent to £19.36. Mid-caps also saw advances, as Lonmin gained 6.4 percent to £23.90, while Vedanta advanced by 7.2 percent to £12.05.

In the insurance sector, Aviva added 2.3 percent to 729½p on rumors that hedge funds were looking at the company’s shares. Meanwhile, fund manager Man Group advanced by 2.7 percent to £23.42 on an upgrade from “overweight” to “buy” from Bridgewell Securities.