Miners were the big gainers in London on Wednesday, where the FTSE 100 gained 2.81 percent to 6,460 and the FTSE 250 was 3.09 percent higher to 11,136.3.

The five biggest gainers on the 100 were all in the mining sector, where gains came on hopes that the US interest rate cut will help prop up demand for metals.

Anglo American (LSE: AAL) had the best day on the 100, with a gain of 8.27 percent to £31.29.

Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) was 7.74 percent higher to £20.73, while Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) was up 7.07 percent to £14.23, Xstrata (LSE: XTA) added 6.76 percent to £30.50 and Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) gained 6.71 percent to 787p.

Elsewhere in the sector, BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT; NYSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) was up 6.3 percent to £16.27 and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) was 5.8 percent higher to £39.47.

Over on the 250, gold miner Randgold (LSE: RRS; NAS: GOLD) jumped 9.37 percent to £15.64.

Financial services group Bluebay (LSE: BBAY) had the best day on the 250, adding 20.58 percent to 470.25p.

Mortgage lenders also had a good day with Paragon (LSE: PAG) up 9 percent to 327p, while Bradford & Bingley (LSE: BB) gained 10.9 percent to 328p.

Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) dropped again, however, dropping 16.01 percent to 257p for the worst performance on the 100, on rumors that it has received a bid and could be sold for less than market value.

The tobacco sector was also lower on the session.

Imperial Tobacco Group (LSE: IMT) was 0.14 percent lower to £22.07, while British American Tobacco (LSE: BATS; AMEX: BTI; KLSE: BAT) was down 0.3 percent to £16.85.

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.

London’s equities markets saw declines on Friday.

The FTSE 100 1.17 percent lower to 6,289.3 and the FTSE 250 falling 1.95 percent to 10,954.

Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) had the worst performance by far on the 100, falling 31.46 percent to 438p after it had to ask the Bank of England for help after it could not find a place to borrow money from traditional sources and customers lined up outside branches of the bank to withdraw their money from accounts.

The trouble extended to other banks, with Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL) dropping 6.88 percent to 873p.

Mortgage lenders were also hurt.

Paragon (LSE: PAG) was down 16.76 percent to 298p for the worst day on the 250.

It was followed by fellow mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley (LSE: BB), which was 7.7 percent lower to 329.75.

Homebuilders were also lower on the day.

Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV) dropped 4.71 percent to 829p and Persimmon (LSE: PSN) was down 6.62 percent to £10.16 on the 250, while Bellway (LSE: BWY) fell 7.54 percent to £10.67 on the 100.

Oil-related shares saw gains on the 250.

Burren Energy (LSE: BUR) was up 1.79 percent to 853p, while Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX) added 1.94 percent to £10 and JKX Oil & Gas (LSE: JKX) was 2.25 percent higher to 397.75p.

Gold miner Hochschild (LSE: HOC) had the best day on the 250 as it gained 3.83 percent to 345.25p.

Chemicals group Reckitt Benckiser (LSE: RB) was the best performer on the 100, adding 1.49 percent to £27.99.

Publisher Reed Elsevier (LSE: REL; Euronext: REN; NYSE: ENL; NYSE: RUK) was 1.08 percent higher to 608p, and DIY retailer Kingfisher (LSE: KFG) closed at 196.6p, a gain of 0.2 percent.

Equity markets were down on Wednesday in London. The FTSE 100 lost 0.9 percent to 5,369.7, while the FTSE 250 was down 1 percent to 7,849.1.

Volume on the day, was 3.3 billion shares traded.

At least one analysts blamed the poor performance, the worst since the July 7 terrorist bombings in London, on weakness in US equities markets due to high oil prices and another interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.

The banking sector was mixed, with Royal Bank of Scotland down 1.3 percent to £15.76 on rumors that it might be thinking of intruding into the proposed merger between Germany’s HVB and Italy’s UniCredito.

Elsewhere in the sector, however, Paragon gained 2.2 percent to 485½p and Northern Rock was up 0.4 percent to 810½p. In the insurance sector, rumors that Prudential was thinking of acquiring Royal & Sun Alliance sent shares in both companies lower.

RSA fell 0.3 percent to 95½p and Prudential was down by 1.2 percent to 500½p.

Companies that rely heavily on oil products were down on the day as crude oil prices rose again. British Airways lost 1.8 percent to 288¾p, while cruise operator Carnival fell 2.7 percent to £28.85.