London’s markets were also higher on the session.

The FTSE 100 added 3.5 percent to 6,064.2, while the FTSE 250 was 2.14 percent higher to 10,686.2.

As on the continent, banks saw gains.

Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN; SEHK: 2888) was the best performer on the 100 as it added 8.03 percent to £15.60, while Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) was right behind with a gain of 7.66 percent to 709.5p.

Insurers were also higher, with Standard Life (LSE: SLET) up 7.01 percent to 305.5p.

Broker ICAP (LSE: IAP) was 6.48 percent higher to 484.5p.

Miners also saw gains.

Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) gained 1.8 percent to £29.82, while BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT; NSYE; BHP; ASX: BHP) added 3.5 percent to £12.24 and Lonmin (LSE: LMI) was 6.52 percent higher to £29.74.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN; NYSE: AZN) was up 2.55 percent to £23.36 while GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK; NYSE: GSK) gained 3.33 percent to £12.71.

Oil and gas services group Petrofac (LSE: PFC) had the best day on the 250, where it added 7.72 percent to 418.5p, while the biggest loser there was asset manager Henderson Group (LSE: HGI; ASX: HGI) at a drop of 2.9 percent to 125.5p.

There were only two losers on the 100 on the session. Imperial Chemical Industries (LSE: ICI) dropped 0.16 percent to 616p, while retailer Tesco (LSE: TSCO) was down 0.12 percent to 403.5p.

London’s markets rallied Monday as the FTSE 100 added 2.99 percent to 6,219 and the FTSE 250 gained 2.71 percent to 11,184.8.

The top three gainers on the 100 were all miners, adding value after copper prices were higher.

Anglo American (LSE: AAL) was up 8.31 percent to £28.16, while Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) gained 10.44 percent to £11.95 and Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) added 10.48 percent to 685p for the best day on the 100.

Gains on the 250 were even bigger.

In the electronics sector Aveva Group (LSE: AVV) and Micro Focus International (LSE: MCRO) were 12.69 percent higher to 901p and up 16.8 percent to 288.5p respectively, with Micro Focus having the best day on the 250.

Construction engineering group Keller (LSE: KLR) was up 16.77 percent to 940p, while investment managers Rathbone Brothers (LSE: RAT) added 12.79 percent to £13.05 and conference and convention organizer ITE Group (LSE: ITE) was 12.77 percent higher to 170p.

The biggest loser on the 250 on the session was car rental group Avis Europe (LSE: AVE), which dropped 11.76 percent to 45p.

Kingfisher, meanwhile, had the worst day on the 100 as it fell 1.63 percent to 211.5p.

Chemicals groups had a mixed day on the 100, with Reckitt Benckiser (LSE: RB) down 0.51 percent to £27.41 while Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) dropped 0.82 percent to £16.90.

On the other hand, Imperial Chemical Industries (LSE: ICI; NYSE: ICI) added 2.8 percent to 642p after it said it has accepted a bid from Dutch chemicals company Azko Nobel (Euronext: AKZ; NAS: AKZOY).

In addition, German consumer goods manufacturer Henkel (FWB: HEN3) said it will purchase the adhesives and electronic materials divisions of ICI’s US unit if the Akzo deal is completed.

London’s equities markets were lower Wednesday.

The FTSE 100 dropped 1.72 percent to 6,250.6, while the FTSE 250 fell 1.26 percent to 11,194.9.

Cadbury Schweppes (LSE: CBRY; NYSE: CSG), with a decline of 8.23 percent to 569p, was the worst performer on the 100 after it
said that profitability was down in the first half due to higher dairy prices.

British Airways (LSE: BAY; NYSE: BAB) was down 2.89 percent to 386.25p after it was fined nearly £270 million for price fixing activities in relation to fuel surcharges.

Miners were substantially lower. Lonmin (LSE: LMI) fell 3.65 percent to £33.76, while Xstrata (LSE: XTA) was 3.88 percent lower to £30.74, BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT; NYSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) dropped 4.41 percent to £14.08 and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) was down 4.46 percent to £34.45.

There were gains on the day.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Shire (LSE: SHP; NAS: SHPGY) added 1.56 percent to £12.37, while chemicals group Imperial Chemical Industries (LSE: ICI) gained 0.56 percent to 627.5p on reports that Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW; TYO: 4850) is interested in making a bid to rival that of Akzo Nobel (Euronext: AKZ; NAS: AKZOY).

Over on the 250, construction group John Wood Group (LSE: WG.) was the best performer, adding 4.61 percent to 340.5p.

Meanwhile, business services provider Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (LSE: JLT) was the biggest loser of the session as it dropped 11.48 percent to 374p.

Equities markets in London were mixed on Monday.

The FTSE 100 was 0.15 percent lower to 6,206.1, while the FTSE 250 gained 0.79 percent to 11,071.7.

Miners saw significant gains on the day.

BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT; ASX: BHP; NYSE: BHP) gained 3.09 percent to £14.03, while Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) added 3.68 percent to £34.51, Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) was 4.15 percent higher to 702p, and Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) was up 5.5 percent to £17.07.

The best performer on the 100 came in the chemicals sector, where Imperial Chemical Industries (LSE: ICI; NYSE: ICI) added 7.19 percent to 618.5p.

The biggest loser on the 100 was in the financial services sector, where Man Group (LSE: EMG) fell 2.75 percent to 547.5p.

Other decliners included Imperial Tobacco Group (LSE: IMT), which dropped 2.02 percent to £21.37.

Prudential (LSE: PRU; NYSE: PUK) dropped 2.11 percent to 650p, while electric power transmitter National Grid (LSE: NG) was 2.14 percent lower to 686p.

Manufacturer FKI (LSE: FKI) had the best day on the 250, adding 9.16 percent to 110.25p, while JKX Oil & Gas (LSE: JKX) gained 8.61 percent to 346p.

The worst performer on the 250 was property investment group Capital & Regional (LSE: CPP), which fell 4.12 percent to 907p.

The London markets were higher on Thursday, despite the fact that the FTSE 100 dropped almost 45 points late in the session after early trade on Wall Street was weak. The 100 added 0.1 percent to 6,210.3, while the FTSE 250 gained 0.2 percent to 11,122.9.

Pubs operator Enterprise Inns was the best performer on the 100 for the session. It added 4.3 percent to 658p when Deutsche Bank reconfirmed its “buy” recommendation and 790p target share price. Additionally, Deutsche Bank said that Enterprise would return 50 percent more to shareholders in 2007 than it did in 2006.

InterContinental Hotels Group also did very well with more than 16 million shares changing hands on rumors that Starwood Capital could be interested in a bid. InterContinental gained 3 percent to £12.55.

Wolseley was 1.8 percent higher to £13.23 when Merrill Lynch repeated its “buy” recommendation for the plumbing and building materials group.

Speciality chemicals company ICI dropped 0.2 percent to 478p in spite of rumored activity in the sector. Rumors had it that a consortium of private equity groups are looking to bid on Dow Chemical for the purpose of breaking the company up.

Both the FTSE 100 and the FTSE 250 ended the session and the week higher in London on Friday. The 100 added 0.3 percent on the session, for its fifth gain in a row, and gained 2.2 percent on the week when it closed at 6,152.4. The 250 was up 0.5 percent on Friday and added 2.3 percent for the week to close at an all-time high of 10,944.

Premier Oil added 3.3 percent on Friday to €12.45 on an upgrade to “buy” from UBS despite having declined 10.5 percent on Thursday after bids talks were ended. Other gainers included chemicals group ICI, which added 2.4 percent to 426p on continuing rumors that Akzo Nobel is interested. Corus was 0.6 percent higher to 500p on speculation that a bid from CSN of Brazil is imminent. EMI gained 3.2 percent to 295¾p on talk that it could soon receive an offer from a private equity group.

There were declines on the day, as well. Tobacco company Gallaher, up recently on bids rumors, dropped 1.5 percent to £11.72 after UBS said it thinks that the bid, said to be coming from Japan Tobacco, will be £11.50 per share at the highest.

The mining sector was down after Merrill Lynch cut the entire sector to “neutral”, using as its pretext questions about the prices of base metals. Rio Tinto dropped 1.8 percent to £27.54, while BHP Billiton fell 2.8 percent to 945p. Kazakhmys was 3 percent lower to £11.60, Xstrata declined 3.2 percent to £23.37, and Antofagasta dropped 4.2 percent to 517½p.

The London equities markets were lower on Wednesday ahead of the four-day Thanksgiving Day weekend in the United States. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.7 percent to 6,160.3, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.6 percent to 10,687.7.

Ladbrokes was 1.1 percent higher on the session to 397¼p as rumors circulated that private equity might be interested in making a bid for the bookmaker. Also up was British Airways, which added 2 percent to 491p on the news that Qantas Airways of Australia had received a $7.7 billion offer. Specialty chemicals company ICI was 9.3 percent higher to 423p as investors speculated that the sale of its Quest unit leaves it open to bids.

Plumbing and constructions materials company Wolseley fell 1.6 percent to £11.68 ahead of its annual meeting next week. Analysts are worried that the plumber might be forced into a restructuring because of the slowdown in the US housing market.

In the defence sector, BAE Systems dropped 0.4 percent to 414½p amid concerns that Saudi Arabia could cancel the contract for the Al Yamamah 3 fighter plane.

Among media companies, BSkyB was 0.7 percent lower to 531p, while ITV fell 2.2 percent to 109½p on reaction to its rejection of an offer from NTL. In addition, US fund manager Fidelity sold its 11 percent stake in ITV to BSkyB last week and then bought back 58.3 million ITV shares Monday for a much lower price per share; however it appeared that Fidelity had stopped buying shares.

The London equities markets were mixed on Wednesday. While the FTSE 100 lost early gains to end the session 0.1 percent lower to 5,892.2, the FTSE 250 added 0.6 percent to 9,669.2.

The leisure tours and travel sector was lower on the session. First Choice Holidays was down by 3.9 percent to 208¼p. Meanwhile, My Travel Group dropped 6.3 percent to 188p, for the 250’s biggest loss on the session, after issuing a profits warning. In addition, UBS put 13 million shares of My Travel Group up for sale for an institutional client.

Retailers saw gains, however. Next added 7.6 percent to £18.34, a new record high for the clothing retailer, on the news that its half-year report exceeded analyst expectations. This news also helped Marks & Spencer, which gained 2.6 percent to 611p.

Also ahead on the day was AWG, Anglian Water’s parent company, which was 3.3 percent higher to £13.62 on bids rumors. ICI gained 0.7 percent to 378¼p after there was talk that it could be considering a bid for rival specialty chemicals company Clariant.

Cable & Wireless added 1.2 percent to 128½p in anticipation of good news from its international division in a report due next week.

London equities markets were down substantially on Friday, with the FTSE 100 seeing its worst day in two years, dropping 2.2 percent to 5,912.1 and the FTSE 250 falling even more, by 2.6 percent to 9,811.8. The declines were a result of sell-offs in commodity and energy related stocks. The continued weakness of the US dollar was also a factor in declines in some sectors.

In the energy sector, BG Group dropped 3.6 percent, while British Energy declined by 2.9 percent to 665p.

Among miners, some losses were substantial. Mid-cap gold miner Randgold lost 11.6 percent to £11.96. Anglo American was down 4.8 percent to £24.25, while Antofagasta dropped 4.4 percent to £24.42. Rio Tinto declined by 4.2 percent and Kazakhmys was down by 4 percent to £13.35.

Fund managers were mixed, with those with substantial US exposure among the losers. Amvescap was down 3.4 percent to 571p. Man Group lost 2.4 percent to £25.28. Among gainers in the sector, Schroeders added 2.5 percent to £11.56 on an upgrade from “hold” to “buy” from Citigroup, which set its target share price at £12.80.

The weakness of the greenback in relation to sterling hurt companies that earn part of their revenues in dollars. Engine maker Rolls-Royce dropped 3.9 percent to 443¼p, while chemical company ICI was down 1.7 percent to 384½p.