The London equities markets were mixed on Friday and closed out the week lower than they began. The FTSE 100 was 0.01 percent lower on the session and 2.1 points lower on the week to 6,155.2, while the FTSE 250 added 0.1 percent Friday but lost 43.1 points over the week to close at 10,356.5.

Banks were lower, with Lloyds TSB down 1 percent to 562½p, while Northern Rock dropped 1.2 percent to £11.76 on the news that the Office of Fair Trading has recommended that the Payment Protection Insurance market be looked at by the Competition Commission. Both Lloyds and Northern Rock make from 14 to 18 percent of their profits from PPI commissions.

Among other losers, PartyGaming was 7.2 percent lower to 29p on a disappointing trading update, while in the semiconductors sector Wolfson Microelectronics fell to 279p on a profits warning.

Ladbrokes added 2.6 percent to 401¼p and 12 million shares changed hands on rumors that a private equity group would make a bid. Still in the leisure sector, Intercontinental Hotels Group was 2.5 percent higher to 997p.

Amvescap gained 1.6 percent to 614p on positive comments from Deutsche Bank. Meanwhile, media group Pearson was up 0.9 percent to 784½p.

London equities markets were mixed on Monday as the FTSE 100 hit a five-year high, gaining 21 points to 6,178.3 but the FTSE 250 dropped 14.9 points to 10,384.1.

Lloyds TSB was 1.3 percent higher to 588½p on rumors that it turned down a bid for its Scottish Widows life assurance unit from Swiss Re and Axa. Some analysts are not optimistic that such a deal would be completed, and Lloyds would not comment on the offer, which was said to have been for £8 billion.

Also seeing a gain on the session was ITV, which added 2 percent to 102¾p on an upgrade from “equal-weight” to “overweight” from Morgan Stanley on the theory that the broadcaster’s shares have reached its low and that better news on advertisements could attract private equity.

PartyGaming dropped 7.2 percent to 32p, a new low share price, after UBS cut its target share price on the online gamer to only 26p. Online gamers have been in a slump since the signing of legislation making most online gambling illegal in the United States.

Among other loses on the session, Cadbury Schweppes was 1.5 percent lower to 549½p on a downgrade from “buy” to “neutral” from Merrill Lynch, while EMI dropped 0.2 percent to 269½p after a warning that the music group expects total revenues to drop by around 3 percent for the half-year that ended September 30.

The London equities markets were higher on Wednesday after Wall Street opened strongly, with the FTSE 100 up 0.6 percent higher to 5,866.2 and the FTSE 250 adding 0.5 percent to 9.791.1. The energy sector, however, didn’t share in the gains.

British Energy was 1.4 percent lower to 574p, on top of an 8.3 percent decline on Tuesday, as it became clear that the nuclear power generator will not be able to shed any more light on its dividend policy should the government delay its plan to sell its stake in the power company. The government owns 65 percent of BE. Meanwhile, Drax Group, the coal-power generator, dropped 2.4 percent to 835p as Goldman Sachs added it to its sell list.

Also lower was RHM, which fell 1.6 percent to 284½p after a downgrade from Credit Suisse to “neutral” on concerns that the baker will not be able to pass on higher raw materials costs to consumers.

Online gamer PartyGaming dropped 1.9 percent to 101p on a downgrade to “reduce” from UBS, which also cut the internet gambler’s target share price from 135p to 75p.

In the steel sector, Corus Group added 2.8 percent to 369¾p on an upgrade to “overweight” from Morgan Stanley, saying it expects the steel maker to make a deal soon with a low-cost producer of slab steels that could add over 100p to its share price.

British Airways gained 4 percent to 437¾p, a five-and-a-half year high, as crude oil prices continued to decline.

In the telecommunications sector, meanwhile, Cable & Wireless was 3 percent higher to 129¾p ahead of a Thursday presentation on its international operations.

Miners took the London equities markets higher on Monday as the FTSE 100 added 0.2 percent to 5,890.2 and the FTSE 250 gained 0.1 percent to 9,799.5. Retailers also saw gains.

The mining sector, which has been on the decline recently, was up at least partly on talk that a Brazi’s CVRD had said it was interested in linking up with Xstrata to break up Anglo-American. Xstrata added 2 percent to £22.05. Anglo-American and Vedanta Resources each were 3 percent higher, to £21.75 and £12.58 respectively. Kazakhmys gained 4.9 percent to £12.66.

PartyGaming was the biggest winner on the 100, adding 6 percent to 106p on the hope that the US senate will not act on a bill outlawing online gambling before elections in November.

Among retailers, Marks & Spencer was 0.3 percent higher to 626p after Deutsche Bank increased its target share price to 750p in anticipation of a positive interim report, due November 3. William Morrison added 0.5 percent to 232p after Deutsche Bank raised the supermarket chain’s recommendation to “buy”. Kingfisher was also up, by 1.4 percent to 247p, on positive comments from Goldman Sachs.

Defense contractor Chemring debuted on the 250 by adding 5.5 percent to £13.93, at least partly on talk that BAE Systems is interested in making a bid. BAE, however, dropped 1 percent on the session to 380¾p.

London equities markets were lower again on Thursday as the FTSE 100 was down 1.2 percent to 5,858.1, brining its points loss to 123.6 in two days. The FTSE 250 dropped 1.3 percent to 9,576.1.

A good portion of the losses on the 250 were due to declines in the engineering sector. Bodycote International dropped 4.6 percent to 222¼p, while Invensys fell 4.7 percent to 190p and FKI was 5.9 percent lower to 91¼p. all these declines were triggered by a profits warning from automobile and construction group Tomkins, down 14.7 percent to 241¼p.

Plumbing and building materials group Wolseley dropped 3 percent to £11.15, hurt by a profits warning issued by US homebuilder KB Home.

Online gambler PartyGaming was 9.8 percent lower to 105¾p on the news that the chairman of Sportingbet had been detained by authorities in New York. Sportingbet trade is still suspended at 239p.

Among gainers on the day were Scottish & Southern Energy, up 1.2 percent to £12.30, after an upgrade to “buy” from Citigroup, which set a target share price of £13.50 for the utility. Among the reasons cited for the upgrade was the belief that Scottish & Southern’s decision not to set higher gas prices will pay off soon.

The FTSE 100 dropped 0.9 percent to 5,929.3 on Wednesday for its largest one-day decline in a month after labor data from the United States renewed fears that inflation would grow. In addition, crude oil prices fell again, sending oil stocks lower. The FTSE 250 was also down on the session, by 0.6 percent to 9,700.9.

In the mining sector, Xstrata was 2.3 percent lower to £24.18 on rumors that it will launch a rights issue worth 2.75 billion in order to finance its purchase of Canadian copper and nickel miner Falconbridge.

A number of sectors were weak, with some declines coming on broker downgrades. For example, coal fired power station operator Drax dropped 3.3 percent to 907p on a downgrade from “buy” to “neutral” from Merrill Lynch. Still, Drax is up 82 percent since the beginning of the year.

In the banking sector, Barclays dropped 1.2 percent to 665p on a lengthy “sell” recommendation from Citigroup, which said that new capital adequacy rules will have a harmful effect on Barclays’ investment banking business.

The recommendations were not all negative, however. Next added 0.8 percent to £16.80 on a “buy” recommendation from Deutsche Bank that came just a day after a similar rating by Man Securities. Anglo-Dutch publisher Reed Elsevier also benefited from positive comments, gaining 0.8 percent to 569p after UBS repeated its “buy” recommendation.

Also seeing gains during the session was PartyGaming, up 0.6 percent to 117¼p.

In London on Friday, equities markets were up slightly with the FTSE 100 up by only 3 points to 5,903.4 and the FTSE 250 adding 0.3 percent to 9.513.0. These small gains added on earlier increases, with the 100 up 1.7 percent over the week and the 250 gaining 2.8 percent since Monday’s opening.

Bids news spurred gains in the media sector. It was revealed that SMG, which owns STV and Virgin Radio, is in talks with UTV sent SMG 2.9 percent higher to 72p, while UTV added 7.6 percent to 344¼p. GCAP Media was also the center of takeover talk, sending it 3.2 percent higher to 215p.

In the tobacco sector, Imperial Tobacco gained 2.2 percent to £18.18 on the news that while a US court found Altria and Reynolds American guilty of violating racketeering laws it did not impose a fine on either company. Analysts said that this outcome made it more likely that the Phillip Morris division of Altria would make an immediate bid for Imperial.

Among losers on the day was PartyGaming, which was 2.2 percent lower to 111p after ABN Amro reduced its recommendation on the online gamer from “buy” to “hold”. Miner Kazakhmys declined by 2.3 percent on the news that China has raised interest rates weighed on mining stocks, as investors were concerned that the move would have an effect on the demand for metals. Among mid-caps, Carphone Warehouse dropped 1.7 percent to 266¾p after Citigroup began coverage of the company with as “sell” recommendation.

British Airways was 1.9 percent higher to 377p in London on Monday as the government in the UK lowered its alert level from “critical” to “severe” after the arrest last week of a number of individuals who were said to have planned to bomb flights from London to the United States. The gain helped the FTSE 100 add 0.8 percent to 5,870.9 and the FTSE 250 to gain 0.5 percent to 9,303.9. Volume was extremely low at fewer than 2 billion shares traded on the session.

After a 10 percent decline on Friday, fund manager Schroders was 6.5 percent higher to 929p.

Among banks, Lloyds TSB was up by 1.5 percent to 514½p as Goldman Sachs took Lloyds off its “conviction sell” list but still maintined its “sell” recommendation. Meanwhile, Merrill Lynch added Barclays to its list of top picks and reiterated its target share price of 878p. Barclays was up 2.1 percent to 649p on the session.

Shares in property companies were up, led by British Land, up 1.1 percent to £13.75 ahead of quarterly results due on Tuesday.

Among decliners on the day was BT Group, which was 0.9 percent lower to 240½p after a downgrade by Cazenove from “outperform” to “inline” following on a profits warning issued last week by Deutsche Telekom. Also down on the day was PartyGaming, which dropped 3.5 percent to 105¼p.

London equities markets were sharply lower on Thursday after the Bank of England announced that it had raised interest rates in the UK by a quarter of a percent to 4.75 percent. Most analysts had not expected the rate hike to come at this time. With 3.2 billion shares changing hands, the FTSE 100 dropped 1.6 percent to close at 5,838.4 and the FTSE 250 was 1.4 percent lower, ending the session at 9,264.3.

Sectors most seriously affected by the rate hike included mortgage banks, homebuilders, and those companies that market homes and land. Among homebuilders, Persimmon was 4 percent lower to £12.42, while Bellway fell 4.3 percent to £11.65 and Barratt Developments dropped 5.1 percent to 945p.

Among those engaged in selling property, Hammerson declined by 3 percent to £12.36, British Land was 3.9 percent lower to £13.24, and Liberty International fell by 4.3 percent to £11.04. Estate agents were also lower. Rightmove dropped 5.8 percent to 270p, while Countrywide fell 8.1 percent to 387p.

In the banking sector, mortgage banks declined on the theory that higher interest rates would mean higher house payments and the possibility that more people would not be able to meet their debts. Northern Rock was down by 1.6 percent to £10.88, while HBOS fell 3 percent to 959p and Alliance & Leicester dropped 3.5 percent to 955p.

There were advances on the day, but they were few and far between. PartyGaming added 0.5 percent to 110p on the news that it has bought internet sports betting company Gamebookers. Broadcaster ITV gained 2.7 percent to 104¼p after adding nearly 5 percent on Wednesday. Wm Morrison was 3.5 percent higher to 213p on higher sales. Citigroup raised the supermarket chain’s target share price from 215p to 240p and reconfirmed it’s “buy” recommendation.

The FTSE 100 was lower on Tuesday in London with a decline of 0.8 percent to 5,880.0, affected by investor concerns that interest rates in the United States could rise again in August. In addition, trade volumes were very low with only 2.2 billion shares changing hands.

Rising crude oil prices helped the oil sector. Burren Energy added 2.9 percent to 914p while Tullow Oil gained 1.9 percent to 402p. Both were also helped by news that a French firm will sell assets, probably in Congo, to ENI of Italy; Burren and Tullow both have assets in the development in question.

Plumber Wolseley was also up on the day, finishing 0.7 percent higher to £11.48.

Unilever, up 12 percent in the past two weeks, added another 0.3 percent to end the session at £12.70. The consumer goods group, which is scheduled to release its quarterly report on Thursday, is expected to say that its underlying sales are up by 3.6 percent in the quarter. While Credit Suisse was optimistic about Unilever’s prospects, Lehman Brothers said that it would have to show its current valuation is deserved.

Online gaming had another bad day. PartyGaming dropped 3.4 percent to 105¾p, while 888 Holdings was 7.7 percent lower to 143p.

Miners were also lower on the day. Kazakhmys did better than most after Credit Suisse raised its target share price from £13 to £15 on an increase in production. Still, Kazahkmys fell 0.2 percent to £12.49.