In London on Monday, the FTSE 100 was 1.2 percent lower to 6,050.1, its lowest close since early October and its largest one day percentage decline since the end of September. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 also declined, dropping 0.9 percent to 10,493.6.

The retail sector saw declines on slow sales for clothing retailers due to mild weather so far this autumn. Debenhams dropped 1 percent to 194p, while Next fell 2 percent to £17.94. Rumors have underlying sales at Next down by up to 20 percent year-on-year.

In the steel sector, Corus was 1 percent lower to 499½p on worries that pension fund trustees might hold up merger talks with CSN of Brazil. Elsewhere, concerns that the government of Saudi Arabia might pull out of deal to buy 72 Eurofighter planes sent BAE Systems down 3.1 percent to 391p/

The 250 was saved from further declines by advances in the homebuilders sector when Wilson Bowden gained 14.6 percent to £20.98 after it said it has received several takeover inquiries. The mid-caps index was also helped by the news that First Choice Holidays is talking about selling its package tour operations to My Travel. My Travel was 7.1 percent higher to 214p, while First Choice gained 12 percent to 257p.

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.

After another sharp fall on Tuesday, the London equities markets saw significant gains on Wednesday as the FTSE 100 added 1.3 percent to 5,723.8, getting back almost half of yesterday’s decline. The FTSE 250 was up 0.7 percent to 8,298.2. Despite the day’s gains, however, the 100 dropped 5 percent in May, while the 250 lost 5.9 percent on the month. It was the largest monthly loss for both indexes since January 2003.

In the mining sector, Xstrata added 5.4 percent to £21.30 in heavy trading, as £272 million worth of its stock was traded during the final auction period of the day. The miner will be joining the MSCI index beginning on Thursday.

MyTravel also traded at a higher volume than usual as rumors circulated that it could be targeted for takeover by a European company. The tour operator’s shares were up 3.5 percent to 238p. MyTravel’s half-year earnings report is due June 15, and talk that it may have incurred tax losses in the UK helped fuel the rumors.

In the insurance sector, life assurer Friends Provident added 2.4 percent to 177½p on an upgrade from “underperform” to “outperform” from Credit Suisse.

William Morrison gained 0.26 percent to 195¾p on rumors that an Icelandic investment group had been buying up shares in the supermarket operator.

PartyGaming added 3.2 percent to 130p on the day. Like Xstrata, it will also be joining the MSCI index on Thursday.