London’s markets also declined, with the FTSE 100 down 1.07 percent to 6,396.9 and the FTSE 250 closing at 10,853.2, a drop of 1.7 percent.

Miners dropped as metals prices declined.

Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) had the worst day on the 100 as it fell 6.49 percent to £20.90, while Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) dropped 6.35 percent to 789.5p and Lonmin (LSE: LMI) was 5.35 percent lower to £32.02.

Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) had another down day, falling 5.17 percent to 163.10 as it said it won’t pay a dividend it had promised to investors.

House builder Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) was down 5.72 percent to 255.5p.

Property developer Hammerson (LSE: HMSO), on the other hand, added 1.06 percent to £11.40.

Electric power transmitter National Grid (LSE: NG) had the best day on the 100 with a gain of 2.5 percent to 780p, while Scottish & Southern Energy (LSE: SSE; OTC: SSEZY) added 1.38 percent to £14.73.

Over on the 250, electricity generator Drax Group (LSE: DRX) was 2.38 percent higher to 602p.

Natural gas utility Wellstream (LSE:WSM) gained 10.79 percent to 770p for the best day on the 250.

Construction groups were mixed.

Alfred McAlpine (LSE: MCA) was up 2.83 percent to 449.5p but Severfield-Rowen (LSE: SFR) was 6.65 percent lower to £21.05.

London’s markets saw gains Friday, with the FTSE 100 up 0.43 percent to 6,456.7 and the FTSE 250 gaining 0.73 percent to 11,094.7.

Banks were mixed.

While Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) added 4.91 percent to 194.3p, Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL) dropped another 2.45 percent to 737p.

Energy-related shares were mixed as well.

Electricity generator British Energy (LSE: BGY) turned in the best performance on the 100 with a gain of 6.55 percent to 520.5p, but electric power transmitter National Grid (LSE: NG) was 2.38 percent lower to 759p.

Elsewhere, water utility Kelda Group (LSE: KEL) fell 3.08 percent to 864.5p.

Miners were also mixed.

Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) added 3.39 percent to £21.35 on the 100, while over on the 250 gold miner Randgold (LSE: RRS; NAS: GOLD) was the worst performer on the 250 with a decline of 4.34 percent to £15.21.

Back on the 100, do-it-yourself retailer Kingfisher (LSE: KFG) fell 3.48 percent to 174.7 for the worst day on the blue-chip index.

Sports retailer JJB (LSE: JJB) was also lower, dropping 3.01 percent to 145p.

PartyGaming (LSE: PRTY) was up 9.47 percent to 26p for the best performance on the 250.

The London Stock Exchange (LSE: LSE) was up 6.7 percent to £18.

Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW; OTC: TUWLY) was also higher, with a gain of 5.84 percent to 607p.

Property developer Daejan Holdings (LSE: DJAN) jumped 6.38 percent to £40.17.

The markets in London also saw declines as the FTSE 100 fell 1.92 percent to 6,271.2 and the FTSE 250 was 2 percent lower to 11,225.5.

Shares in the financial services sector did not do very well for the most part on the 100.

Venture capital and private equity group 3i Group (LSE: III) was 5.8 percent lower to £10.56, while insurer Standard Life (LSE: SLET) fell 6.52 percent to 318.75p and hedge fund Man Group (LSE: EMG) was down 6.73 percent to 527p.

Not all in the financial services sector saw declines however.

Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL) added 1.17 percent to £11.20 and insurer Benfield Group (LSE: BFD) gained 4.95 percent to 339p.

Insurance broker and risk management advisor Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (LSE: JLT) had the best day on the 100 as it added 4.95 percent to 425p.

The best performer on the 250 was BSkyB (LSE: BSY), which gained 2.58 percent to 694.4p.

Other gainers included power transmitter National Grid (LSE: NG), which was 2.09 percent higher to 731.5p.

Chemicals group Reckitt Benckiser (LSE: RB) was up 1.5 percent to £27.74.

Defense contractor BAE Systems (LSE: BA; OTCBB: BAESY) added 0.9 percent to 440.25p after it said that first half profits were up a better-than-anticipated 27 percent on upgrades to its Bradley fighting vehicles for use by the US in Iraq and on the production of jet parts.

The biggest loser on the day on the 100 was miner Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ), which was down 6.79 percent to £11.25.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN; NYSE: AZN) dropped 3.5 percent to £24.30 on a safety review of its acid reflux drugs Nexium and Prilosec after two studies linked them to heart problems.

However, the Food and Drug Administration said that it had concluded on a preliminary basis that there is no increased risk to patients taking the drugs.

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.

London’s markets were lower on the dayFriday, but not nearly as steeply as they were on Thursday.

The FTSE 100 fell 0.58 percent to 6,215.2, while the FTSE 250 was down 0.44 percent to 10.984.5.

Miners posted the worst performances on both the 100 and the 250 as Anglo American (LSE: AAL) dropped 3.86 percent to £27.43 on the 100 and Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP; ASX: AQP) fell 7.37 percent to £13.58.

Also in the sector, Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) was down 3.43 percent to 675p, while Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) was 3.68 percent lower to £16.22.

Online property search group Rightmove (LSE: RMV) also saw declines, dropping 6.09 percent to 547.5p, while human resources group STHREE (LSE: STHR) was 5.75 percent lower to 410.5p.

Caterer Compass Group (LSE: CPG) fell 2.81 percent to 311p.

Chemicals group Reckitt Benckiser (LSE: RB) had the best day on the 100 as it gained 3.19 percent to £26.84.

Publisher Emap (LSE: EMA) was the best performer on the 250, where it added 12.7 percent to 860.5p.

Another publishers, Johnston Press (LSE: JPR) was 4.69 percent higher to 385p.

Retailers also had gains on the 250.

GAME Group (LSE: EBQ) added 4.77 percent to 186.75p, while home shopping retailer Findel (LSE: FADV) gained 4.83 percent to 683.5p.

In the banking sector, Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) was up 3.12 percent to 793.5p.

Electric power transmitter National Grid (LSE: NG) and airplane engine maker Rolls-Royce (LSE: RR) each added 2.47 percent, to 704p and 508.5p respectively.

The London equities markets saw gains on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100 adding 0.7 percent to 6,150.4 and the FTSE 250 gaining 1.2 percent on the session to close at 10,342.

The media sector saw gains after upgrades for the sector. BSkyB was 0.9 percent higher to 552½p after JP Morgan said that it could top its target for subscribers for 2010. Elsewhere in the sector, Johnston Press added 2.3 percent to 428¾p, while Trinity Mirror gained 3 percent to 502½p and Daily Mail & General Trust was up 3.1 percent to 657p.

Steelmaker Corus added 1.7 percent to 487p on rumors that CSN, the Brazilian steelmaker was ready to top Tata Steel’s bid, worth 455p per share. The bid rumors were denied after the close of the session.

In the energy sector, British Energy was up 5.2 percent to 474p on rumors that a European utility could bid for the UK government’s 65 percent of the company. On the other hand, National Grid dropped 1.6 percent to 674½p.

The retail sector was also mixed, with Tesco up 1.5 percent to 390p, a record high share price, on speculation that it will raise its earnings forecast. However, clothing retailer Next dropped 1 percent to £18.51 on rumors that it is preparing to issue a profits warning.

The equities markets in London took significant losses on Thursday as 2.9 billion shares changed hands during the day. The FTSE 100 fell 1.6 percent to 5,765 as miners fell substantially, while the media sector took the FTSE 250 2 percent lower to 9,176.2.

In the mining sector, BHP Billiton was down 3.9 percent to £10.51, Lonmin dropped 4.4 percent to £27.77, and Vedanta Resources fell 5.2 percent to £13.36. The losses reflected investor reluctance to take any risks at the present time.

On the other hand, oil exploration stocks rose with crude oil prices. Premier Oil added 0.8 percent to 957p, while Dana Petroleum gained 1.6 percent to £10.97.

In the media sector, EMI dropped 9.2 percent to 277¾p on the news that a European court had overruled the European Union’s approval of a merger between Sony Music and BMG as investors worried that the ruling might affect the proposed EMI/Warner deal, Meanwhile, Emap fell 14.9 percent to 712p after issuing a negative trading statement.

In the banking sector, Standard Chartered was down by 2.9 percent to £12.49 on concerns that it will need to raise $5 billion (£2.7 billion) if it wins the bidding for LG Card, the largest credit card issuer in South Korea. Analysts also pointed out that, with Standard Chartered’s purchase of Korea First Bank last year, the acquisition of LG Card would leave SC too heavily exposed to South Korea.

Gains on the FTSE 100 were few and limited. Rising oil prices took BP up just 0.1 percent to 641p. National grid gained 0.3 percent to 590p, while Tesco added 0.9 percent to 335p.

London equities markets were in record territory again on Thursday as the FTSE 100 established another five-year high when it closed up slightly to 6,045.7 and the FTSE 250 added 0.2 percent to end at another all-time high. Volume was at 3.6 billion shares traded.

Utilities ere up after Deutsche Bank issued positive comments on British Energy, which gained 2.4 percent to 694p. National Grid gained 1.1 percent to 578½p, while International Power added 1.3 percent to 291¾p.

Deutsche Bank also helped Corus with an upgraded recommendation, from “hold” to “buy” and a target share price increase from 80p to 100p. The steel maker added 2.6 percent to 89¼p. In other metals, high prices helped copper miner Kazakhmys add 3.1 percent to £12.69. Platinum company Johnson Matthey advanced by 4.9 percent to £15.10.

The banking sector was mixed on bid news. Decreasing talk of an offer took Allaince & Leicester down 2.8 percent to £11.61, but Barclays was up 1.2 percent to 686p on new rumors that Citigroup is considering a bid.

Vodafone added 0.6 percent to 124½p on speculation that the mobile phone group was thinking about entering the fixed line telecommunications market.

In the insurance sector, Prudential gained 4 percent to 677 ½ p on talk that Axa might make a bid. Analysts were mixed on exactly how serious the rumors were, with some saying that some investors could gain on the mere speculation that an offer might be forthcoming.

The online gaming sector was up after indications that efforts in the US to make gambling online illegal were not gathering a great deal of support. PartyGaming added 10 percent to 142½p, while 888 Holdings gained 8.6 percent to 240p and Sportingbet was up 10.6 percent to 421p.

The London equities markets were up on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100 gaining 0.2 percent to 5,965 and the FTSE 250 gaining 0.9 percent to 9,729.0.

Asset managers had a good day on positive comments about the sector from Morgan Stanley. Aberdeen Asset Management gained 6.9 percent to 186p, while Amvescap advanced by 4.2 percent to 550p. Elsewhere in the sector, Deutsche Bank issued an initial “buy” rating and set a 440p share price target on New Star Asset Management, which gained 6.8 percent on the day to 402¾p.

Utilities were up on high electricity prices. British Energy gained 3.9 percent to 646p, while International Power was up 1.1 percent to 277p and National Grid added 0.9 percent to 603½p.

In the retail sector, Woolworths gained 4.1 percent to 37¾p after rumors circulated that the Reuben Brothers have been buying shares in the company.

Insurer Prudential was up 0.9 percent on the day to 609½p on talk that there might be a bid for it soon and ahead of an earnings report due Thursday.

BP gained 2.2 percent to 665p and over 180 million shares in the company were traded after an analyst’s comments that it would be better off if it were to separate its upstream and downstream components.