There were gains in London’s equities markets on Tuesday.

The FTSE 100 added 1.63 to 6,283.3 and the FTSE 250 gained 0.54 percent to 10,802.8.

The 100 was helped out by Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL) when the bank gained even more on the session than it lost Monday.

A&L was up 32.17 percent to 793p, by far the best performance on the blue chip index.

Other banks also gained although the sector was mixed.

Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) was up 8.22 percent to 306p after two consecutive sessions of over 30 percent declines each day.

Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) was 4.48 percent higher to 607p.

On the other hand, Lloyds TSB (LSE: LLOY) dropped 1.75 percent to 504p.

Also seeing a gain on the 100 was property investment group Liberty International (LSE: LII), which was up 5.06 percent to £11.

House builder Persimmon (LSE: PSN), however, dropped 0.53 percent to 941p, while miner Lonmin led the losers on the 100 as it fell 4.35 percent to €31.46.

Mortgage lenders did well on the 250.

Paragon (LSE: PAG) was 5.86 percent higher to 302.5p, while Bradford & Bingley (LSE: BB) jumped 12.28 percent to 313.25p for the best performance of the day on the 250.

Auto rental group Avis Europe (LSE: AVE) was 2.55 percent higher to 40.25p.

The oil sector didn’t do as well.

Venture Production (LSE: VPC) dropped 1.75 percent to 731.5p, while Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW; OTC: TUWLY) led the losers on the 250 with a decline of 3.95 percent to 511p.

In London on Tuesday, the FTSE 100 gained 0.98 percent to 6,376.8 while the FTSE 250 was 1.34 percent higher to 11,510.8.

Both indices were led by the oil sector. Royal Dutch Shell’s (LSE: RDSA, RDSB; NYSE RDS.A, RDS.B) A and B shares took the top two places on the 100, with B shares adding 2.9 percent to £19.85 and A shares gaining 3.02 percent to £19.79 after UBS (NYSE: UBS; SWX: UBSN; TYO: 8657) raised its recommendation on the oil group from “neutral“ to “buy“.

BG Group also did well with its shares 2.43 percent higher to 800.5p.

On the 250, Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW; OTC: TUWLY) was up 6.63 percent to 547p.

Meanwhile, SOCO International (LSE: SIA) added 7.34 percent to £21.65 for the best day on the 250.

Other gainers included miner Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ), which was up 2.62 percent to £13.33 on the news that profits were up 22 percent in the first half of the year.

In the retail sector, Home Retail (LSE: HOME) gained 2.63 percent to 429.5p.

The biggest loser on the day on the 100 was in the banking sector, with Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) falling 1.21 percent to 732p.

Bakery goods retailer Greggs (LSE: GRG) dropped 4.46 £50.50 for the worst performance on the 250.

Property-related groups saw declines on the day.

Home builder Persimmon (LSE: PSN) was 0.95 percent lower to £11.46, while property investor Liberty International (LSE: LII) fell 1.17 percent to £11.83.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Shire (LSE: SHP; NAS: SHPGY) dropped 1.15 percent to £12.95.

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 1.35 percent to 6,393.9, while the FTSE 250 gained 1.96 percent to 11,455.

Electricity generators didn’t do very well on the session.

Drax Group (LSE: DRX) was down 1.89 percent to 649p, while British Energy Group (LSE: BGY) dropped 2.22 percent to 474.5p.

But engineering groups had the worst day on both the 100 and the 250.

On the 100 Smith’s Group (LSE: SMIN) fell 2.8 percent to £10.08 after it issued a flat profits outlook, blaming the US dollar on since it receives at least half of its revenues from the United States.

Meanwhile on the 250, construction engineers Keller Group (LSE: KLR) dropped 7.23 percent to 904p.

Property investment group Liberty International (LSE: LII) had the best day on the 100, adding 6.5 percent to £11.30, while SEGRO (LSE: SGRO) gained 5.9 percent to 565p.

On the 250, property investment group Minerva (LSE: MNR) was up 10.69 percent to 308p.

Unite Group (LSE: UTG), which builds, manages, and rents housing for students, was 9.4 percent higher to 419p.

Automobile insurer Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) had its best one-day advance since it began trading as it added 10.26 percent to 940p.

In financial services sectors, Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL) was 6.03 percent higher to £11.07, while broker ICAP (LSE: IAP) gained 6.04 percent to 500p.

The London equities markets saw strong gains Tuesday as the FTSE 100 added 1.93 percent to 6,308.8 and the FTSE 250 gained 2.15 percent to 11,235.2.

There were only two losers on the FTSE 100 on the session.

Food processor Tate & Lyle (LSE: TATE) was 0.54 percent lower to 558.5p, while miner Xstrata (LSE: XTA) fell 1.36 percent to £28.72 even though it said earnings were up 22 percent in the first half after it also made a $1 billion bid for South Africa’s Eland Platinum (JSE: ELD).

Human resources company Capita Group had the best day on the 100 as it added 5.71 percent to 748.5p.

Property investors did well on both the 100 and 250.

Hammerson (LSE: HMSO) was up 4.51 percent to £12.24, while Liberty International (LSE: LII) gained 4.64 percent to £10.61 on the 100 and Minerva jumped 9.01 percent to 278.25p on the 250.

Consulting engineers Mouchel Parkman (LSE: MCHL) had the best day on the 250, gaining 17.95 percent to 418.5p.

Other gainers on the session included telecommunications group Vodafone (LSE: VOD; NYSE: VOD; FWB: VOD), which added 4.91 percent to 159.4p.

In the banking sector, Standard Chartered gained 5.03 percent to £16.38.

The biggest decliner on the day on the 250 was Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (LSE: MLC), with a drop of 10.55 percent to 518p.

There were substantial gains in London on Tuesday, where the FTSE 100 added 2.48 percent to 6,360.1 and the FTSE 250 was 2.26 percent higher to 11,321.9.

Insurer Standard Life (LSE: SLET) had the best day on the 100 as it added 6.38 percent to 308.5p, while Friends Provident (LSE: FP) was right behind with a gain of 5.97 percent to 187p.

Miners were also higher on the 100, with Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) up 4.17 percent to £17.89 as Anglo American (LSE: AAL) added 5.18 percent to £29.04 as metals prices were on the rise.

Caterer Compass Group (LSE: CPG) was 5.28 percent higher to 334p.

Meanwhile, easyJet (LSE: EZJ) had the best day on the 250, adding 12.91 percent to 511.5p as Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) added the discount airline to its “conviction buy” list.

Other big gainers on the 250 included oil equipment manufacturer Rotork (LSE: ROR), which was 12.87 percent higher to £10.35.

Home builder Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) was up 9.83 percent to 330.25 on first half profits that were better than had been anticipated.

The biggest loss on the 250 came for retail bakery chain Greggs (LSE: GRG), which dropped 3.41 percent to £49.10.

The worst performer on the 100 was chemicals group Reckitt Benckiser (LSE: RB), down 0.41 percent to €26.52.

The only other decliner on the 100 was property investor Liberty International (LSE: LII), which dropped 0.29 percent to £10.38.

The markets were mixed in London on Monday, with the FTSE 100 adding 0.6 percent to 6,624.4 but the FTSE 250 falling 0.38 percent to 11,775.

Insurer Friends Provident (LSE: FP) was the best performer on the 100 as it added 7.83 percent to 201p after it announced that it is in merger talks with Resolution (LSE: RSL).

Elsewhere in the insurance sector, Legal and General (LSE: LGEN) was 2.71 percent higher to 155.3p.

Barclay’s Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) gained 3.01 percent to 735p on the news that China will by a stake in the bank so that it can increase its bid for ABN Amro (Euronext: AAB; NYSE: ABN).

The insurance sector grabbed the top spot on the 250 on the session as well, with special risk insurer Beazley Group (LSE: BEZ) up 5.95 percent to 169.25p.

Retailer GAME Group (LSE: EBQ) also saw gains, adding 3.4 percent to 205.25p.

The property investment sector had a rough day.

Liberty International (LSE: LII) fell 1.7 percent to £11, while SEGRO (LSE: SLOU) - formerly Slough Estates - also dropped 1.7 percent, to 578p.

British Land (LSE: BLND) was the worst performer on the 100, falling 3.1 percent to £13.14.

Meanwhile, house builder Persimmon (LSE: PSN) was 1.69 percent lower to £11.64.

Lifting equipment manufacturer FKI (LSE: FKI) had the worst day on the 250 as it dropped 8.27 percent to 113.75p.

Property investment groups did no better on the 250 than they did on the 100, as Shaftesbury (LSE: SHB) was 3.99 percent lower to 577p and Workspace Group (LSE: WKP) fell 5.23 percent to 362.5p.

Both the FTSE 100 and the FTSE 250 saw gains on Tuesday. The 100 added 0.4 percent to 6,381.8, while the 200 was 0.2 percent higher to 11,475.7.

The 100 was helped by gains in the mining sector after metals prices were up and on rumors that both Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are thinking about bidding for aluminium manufacturer Alcoa. Rio Tinto added 2.5 percent to £27.53, while Billiton was 2.6 percent higher, to £10.67.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, GlaxoSmithKline gained 2.1 percent to £14.91 on a repeated “buy” rating from Collins Stewart. GSK has 10 new products ready to hit the market this year, with 31 at Phase III trials or better.

The real estate sector was lower on profit-taking and on less than admirable results from British Land in their fiscal third quarter. British Land dropped 3.6 percent to £16.19, while Liberty International fell 2.7 percent to £12.90 and Slough Estates was 1.5 percent lower to 771p. Liberty is scheduled to release its results on Wednesday.

British Energy was 3.3 percent lower to 410p after it said that one of its nuclear power plants will be closed until April.

Both the FTSE 100 and the FTSE 250 were higher on Wednesday. The 100 added 1.4 percent to 6,314.8, its highest close since January 3, while the 250 was 0.8 percent higher to 11,192.8.

The oil sector gained on the announcement that the United States plans to double the size of its strategic oil reserves by buying an extra 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day, as well as on a report that Dominion Resources, a US company, had received a bid. BP added 0.6 percent to 548½p, while Royal Dutch Shell gained 1.2 percent to £17.39.

Banks were up as well. Alliance & Leicester was 2.6 percent higher to £11.11, while Royal Bank of Scotland gained 2.9 percent to £21.03 and Northern Rock added 4.1 percent to £12.12 on higher profits than expected and record mortgage lending.

In the mining sector, Kazakhmys added 4.8 percent to £11.19 on a positive broker recommendation. Vedanta Resources was 5.8 percent higher to £11.90 on takeover rumors.

Properties groups benefited after the most recent Bank of England meeting minutes were revealed, showing that the vote was very close on the interest rate hike earlier this month. The closeness of the vote brought hope that interest rates would not be going up again soon, a positive sign for the properties market. British Land added 2.9 percent to £16.12, while Liberty International gained 4.4 percent to £13.18.

London equities markets were lower on Monday, led down by the real estate sector. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.4 percent to 6,194.2 and the FTSE 250 was 0.3 percent lower to 11,156.

Despite the general losses, some sectors saw gains. Miners were up after a bad week last week. Anglo American was 1.6 percent higher to £23.68, helped by the possibility that it could sell some of its 42 percent stake in South African gold miner AngloGold. Xstrata added 2.2 percent to £23.14 after dropping 11 percent last week, while Lonmin gained 3.2 percent to £28.90.

In the energy sector, Cairn Energy was 3.3 percent higher to £17.25 on positive comments from Man Securities, which said that Cairn could see advances if the debut of Cairn India on the stock exchange in Mumbai on Tuesday is fairly successful.

Declines in the real estate sector were explained by nervousness among investors ahead of a meeting by the Bank of England, scheduled for Thursday, when the Bank will make its latest decision on interest rates. The sector was also hurt by a sector wide downgrade to “underweight” from HSBC. Liberty International dropped 1.5 percent to £13.45, Slough Estates fell 1.7 percent to 770p, and Hammerson was 2.5 percent lower to £14.97. British Land was down 2.9 percent to £16.04, while Land Securities dropped 3.2 percent to £22.10.