Both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 were lower in London on Tuesday. Among the circumstances leading to the declines were word of terrorist bombings in Mumbai and a slow start for the markets in New York. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.6 percent to 5,857.3, while the FTSE 250 fell by 0.7 percent to 9,320.3.

Companies with exposure in India were hurt by news that terrorists had bombed several train stations and trains in Mumbai, with considerable loss of life. Vedanta Resources declined by 1.6 percent to £13.70, while Cairn Energy was down 2.3 percent to £20.85 and Standard Chartered dropped 2.7 percent to £12.87.

There were big losses in the semiconductor sector, as Wolfson Microelectronics fell 13.2 percent to 386¼p, for the largest decline on the 250, on speculation that its second-quarter report could contain less than positive news. Elsewhere in the sector, wireless chip designer CSR declined by 7.5 percent to £11.

Among banks, Barclays lost 1.4 percent to 609p on rumors that it has received a broker downgrade due to slow growth in its investment banking unit.

There were few stocks in the black for the day. In the retail sector, Marks & Spencer added 0.3 percent to 585p on a first-quarter trading update that was in line with expectations. Pubs group Enterprise Inns gained 0.4 percent to 958p, while Scottish & Southern Energy gained 0.7 percent to £11.80.

The London equities markets were mixed on Monday, with the FTSE 100 adding just 0.14 percent to 5,896.9 while the FTSE 250 dropped 0.44 percent to 9,390.1. Volume was very low, at only 2.2 billion shares traded on the session. At that, volume was pushed up by heaving trading in Invensys, at 206 million shares traded, and Standard Life, which traded over 170 million shares in its first day of trade.

British Airways was the best performer on the 100, adding 1.9 percent to 366p as oil prices dropped. Also doing well among stocks listed on the 100 was Vodafone, which was up 1 percent to 119¾p on anticipation of a possible bid for its 45 percent share of Verizon Wireless. Dresdner Kleinwort Wassterstein repeated its “buy” recommendation on the mobile phone company, citing a special dividend of 15p due later in the month.

In the retail sector, Marks & Spencer was up 0.4 percent to 582p ahead of its first-quarter trading update, due Tuesday.

Real estate was mixed, with Land Securities dropping 0.2 percent to £18.67 percent and Hammerson declining by 2.4 percent to £12.11. However, British Land gained 0.2 percent to £13.32 on rumors that it will introduce a new chairman at its annual meeting on Thursday.

Equities markets in London were mixed but closed very close to Monday’s levels on Tuesday as investors indulged in profit-taking after gains in the past four trading sessions. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.02 percent, less than a point, to 4,883.5. The FTSE 250 was up 0.09 percent to 9,505.6. With US markets closed for the Independence Day holiday, volume was light with only 1.9 billion shares trading hands.

The property sector saw gains among both blue-chip and mid-cap stocks. On the 100, both British Land and Land Securities added 2.8 percent, to £13.33 and £18.79 respectively. Hammerson gained 3.1 percent to £12.41. Over on the 250, Shaftesbury was up 4.8 percent to 549p, while St Modwen rose 4.9 percent to 469p and Great Portland Estates gained 534¾p.

Among telecoms, Vodafone was up 1 percent to 119p on positive comments from Deutsche Bank.

Positive sentiment from Goldman Sachs sent Marks & Spencer 1.9 percent higher to 598p, as it added the retailer to its ‘Conviction Buy List’.

On the other hand AstraZeneca dropped 2.7 percent to £32.19 when ING downgraded the drug maker from “buy” to “hold”, saying that its 12.7 percent share price rise in the past month raises issues of valuation.

London equities markets were lower again on Friday. After gains early in the day, the FTSE 100 ended up 21.9 points lower at 5,597.4 as miners lost value on China’s steps to slow down economic growth. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 dropped 8 points to end the day at 9,093.8. Over the week, the 100 lost 1 percent, while the 250 actually managed to gain 0.8 percent.

The 100 will lose three stocks beginning Monday, and all three were lower. Ladbrokes dropped 3.4 percent to 372¼p, while Daily Mail and General lost 2p to 600 and Cable & Wireless fell ½p to 109½p.

In the utilities sector, Scottish Power added 3.9 percent to 577½p for the largest gain on the 100. Most analysts put the gain to a positive evaluation of its PPM Energy division, which is the second biggest wind farm operator in the United States. Others said that it was helped by bid talk, as rumor had it that Scottish & Southern Energy is preparing an offer. Scottish & Southern added 0.2 percent to £11.13.

Retailer Marks & Spencer was up 3.3 percent to 573p on a “buy” recommendation from Deutsche Bank after having lost 13 percent in the past month. Also in retail, supermarket chain William Morrison added 2.4 percent to 199¼p and 50 million shares changed hands as bid rumors circulated.

In the mining sector, Rio Tinto dropped 1 percent to £27.17, while BHP Billiton declined by 2.2 percent to 960p.

After big declines on Monday, the London equities markets were significantly on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 saw its largest percentage gain since April of 2003, adding 2.6 percent on the day to 5,678.7. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 put on the most points on one day in its history, gaining 405.7 points, 4.6 percent, to 9,234.3.

Only six companies on the 100 declined on the day. Among those were retailer Marks & Spencer, which lost 3.2 percent to 549p on a disappointing full year report, which included only a 5 percent increase in sales at its refurbished stores. Also down on the day was mobile phone group Vodafone, which was down 1 percent to 116¾p ahead of an earnings report due next week.

Commodities prices were on the rise once again, leading to steep gains on the mining and oil sectors. Among miners, Kazakhmys was up 13 percent to £10.82. Xstrata added 10 percent to £19.42, while Antofagasta gained 9.7 percent to £20.72.

Gains in the oil sector were not as large, but were still substantial. BP and BG Group each added 4.2 percent, to 635p and 673p respectively. Royal Dutch Shell gained 3.8 percent to close at £18.78.

The real estate sector saw big gains, as well. Hammerson and Liberty International were each up 7 percent on the day, to £11.23 and £10.42 respectively. British Land gained 6.4 percent to £12.38 after it said that its net asset value had climbed 32 percent and announced that it would change over to a tax-efficient investment trust status as quickly as it could. Land Securities advanced by 5.6 percent to £17.80 on an upgrade from Merrill Lynch.

The equities markets in London were mixed on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 was up for the first time in five days, but the gain was only a slight 0.08 percent to 5,846.2 Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 dropped 0.16 percent to 9,542.2 as mid-cap miners saw losses.

There were gains on the day in individual stocks. BSkyB added 3.2 percent to 545½p after hedge fund traders closed out their short positions after it became clear that Sky would hold on to most of its rights to broadcast Premier League events. In consequence, Morgan Stanley and Cazenove both abandoned their “underweight” recommendations on the satellite broadcaster’s shares.

Health and beauty retailer Boots also saw gains on the day ahead of its earnings report, due Thursday, which rumor says will show a record pre-tax profit. In addition, it is being said that Boots has downplayed possible cost savings stemming from its merger with Alliance UniChem. The combination of talk spurred Deutsche Bank to up its rating of Boots to “buy” and to set its target share price at 850p. Boots added 1.6 percent on the day to 734½p. UniChem was also up, gaining 2.7 percent to 933p.

Elsewhere in the retail sector, Marks & Spencer was flat at 596p. Baugur, which sold out Marks & Spencer last week, is now said to be looking at building a stake in supermarket chain William Morrison, which added 1.7 percent to 194½p on the rumors.

In London on Thursday, the equities markets were down despite gains in the mining sector. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.7 percent to 6,042, while the FTSE 250 was down 0.33 percent to 10,075.4.

In the retail sector Marks & Spencer, which hit an eight-year high on Wednesday, dropped 3.2 percent to 611p after it was said that Icelandic investment company Baugur had sold 40 million M&S shares.

The media sector was mixed. ITV dropped 2.4 percent to 111¼p after Citigroup dropped its rating to “sell” on weak advertising growth. On the other hand, BSkyB added 2.2 percent to 528½p on an upgrade from “underweight” to “equal-weight” from Morgan Stanley after an analyst admitted that he had been wrong about the satellite broadcaster’s growth. The upgrade came only a few days after Sky regained control of TV rights for Premier League football.

Miners were up on the day, with Xstrata adding 3.4 percent to £24.80. Kazakhmys was up 3 percent to £13.70, Antofagasta gained 1.1 percent to £25.53, and BHP Billiton advanced by 0.8 percent to £12.11. Rio Tinto added 1.25 percent to £33.22 on talk that it had appointed advisors ahead of a possible bid for Phelps Dodge.

In London on Tuesday, the equities markets were up on the day with the FTSE 100 adding 0.6 percent to 6105.6. The FTSE 250 was up just marginally but still managed to close at an all-time high of 10,135.4.

In the telecommunications sector, Vodafone added 3.2 percent to 130p as Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said that the sale of Vodafone’s share of Verizon Wireless, said to be close, could realize as much as $40 billion to $50 billion. Elsewhere in the sector, Carphone Warehouse gained 1.4 percent to 359¼p after Bear Stearns said that it could jump up to the FTSE 100.

In the retail sector, Marks & Spencer was up 1.1 percent to 627p on the possibility that a share buyback will be announced later this month when full-year earnings data are announced. Meanwhile, home improvement retailer Kingfisher also gained 1.1 percent, helped by new data from the Land Registry that home sales were up by one-third in the first quarter of the year. UBS raised Kingfisher’s rating to “buy” from “neutral” and set its target share price at 285p. Woolworths added 2.3 percent to 33½p after Deutsche Bank said it thinks the retailer’s profits will be better next year.

Confectioners Cadbury Schweppes was up 0.9 percent to 550½p on new rumors that US companies Kraft and Hershey are both interested in bidding for the company.

London equities markets were mixed on Monday as the FTSE 100 dropped 0.4 percent to 4,067.1 but the FTSE 250 added 0.24 percent to 10,132.3, which was record high.

A major factor in the decline in the 100 was the oil sector, which saw shares drop in value after crude oil prices fell substantially on the news that a letter from the Iranian president had been delivered to US President George W. Bush which seemed to indicate that Iran is willing to discuss compromises over its controversial nuclear development program. BG Group dropped 2.14 percent to 753½p and BP was down 1.4 percent to 675p.

The mining sector, on the other hand, saw advances. Xstrata added 4.9 percent to £23.65 on the news that Teck Cominco had offered $16 billion for Canadian nickel miner Inco. This disclosure brought about speculation that Xtrata could bid for another Canadian miner, Falconbridge. Xstrata already owns 19.9 percent in Falconbridge and was said to be preparing an offer when Inco bid $10.8 billion for the company.

Among banks, HSBC was up 1.4 percent to 979p after strong activity in Hong Kong overnight.

Marks & Spencer was steady at 620p on the news that Brandes had reduced its holdings in the retailer from 12.7 percent to 11.9 percent.

In the real estate sector, British Land was up 1.8 percent to £13.32 on a recommendation from Cazenove.

The London equities markets were up on the day Friday, with the FTSE 100 up 0.9 percent to 6,091.7 and the FTSE 250 gaining 1.52 percent to 10,017.9. It was the first time the 250 has closed above 10,000. The 100 added 1.1 percent during the week, while the 250 was up 2.3 percent on the week.

The banking sector made news as rumors spread that Alliance & Leicester was in takeover talks with Spanish bank Santander. Despite both banks denials, Alliance & Leicester ended the day with a gain of 6.95 percent to £12 after having gone as high as £12.77 earlier in the day.

Retailer Marks & Spencer added 3.3 percent on the day to 620p on talk of a possible share buyback. It was also rumored that M&S will announce plans for a store remodel program when it releases its full-year report later in the month. Elsewhere in the sector, Kingfisher added 2.7 percent on the day to 237p on bid rumors. On the other hand, Matalan dropped 1.4 percent to 187¾p on a lowered target share price, down to 105p, from Credit Suisse.

In the telecommunications sector, testing company Spirent gained 3.26 percent to 47½p on comments that its low share price makes it an attractive bid target.

Pubs operator Greene King was up 9.9 percent to 826½p on a Merrill Lynch upgrade to “buy”.