In London, the FTSE 100 dropped 1.28 percent on Monday to 6,644.5 while the FTSE 250 fell 1.18 percent to 11,439.9.

The oil sector was higher on higher prices and on continued tensions between Turkey and Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq.

Royal Dutch Shell’s (LSE: RDSA, RDSB; NYSE: RDS.A, RDS.B) B shares added 0.69 percent to £20.55 while it’s A shares gained 0.54 percent to £20.56.

BP (LSE: BP; NYSE: BP; TYO: 5051) was up 0.57 percent to 622.5p while Venture Production (LSE: VPC) jumped 4.29 percent to 766.5p.

The biggest gainer on the 100 was chemicals group Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) added 9.92 percent to £18.40.

On the other hand, the worst performance on the 100 was turned in by Northern Rock (LSE: NRK), which dropped 20.86 percent to 216.25p after saying that while it is talking to several possible bidders, the talks are in an early stage.

Elsewhere in the banking sector, Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL) was down 5.81 percent to 754p.

Brewer SAB Miller (LSE: SAB) fell 4.72 percent to £14.13 after it said that while volume is up overall, sales have been slow in Latin America.

Over on the 250, the best performer on the day was online auctioneer QXL Ricardo (LSE: QXL), which added 4.58 percent to £12.55.

Holding company Rank Group (LSE: RNK) was the biggest loser of the day on the 250, where it fell 12.20 percent to 109.75p.

In London the FTSE 100 added 0.09 percent to 6,730.7, but the FTSE 250 dropped 0.4 percent to 11,576.3.

Northern Rock moved back into the gainers column with the best day on the 100, adding 5.91 percent to 273.25p on the possibility that Virgin Group is looking at a rescue of the troubled bank.

The oil sector was mixed on the session.

Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX) was 3.66 percent higher to £13.04 and BP (LSE: BP; NYSE: BP; TYO: 5051) was up 4.3 percent to 619p, but Hunting (LSE: HTG) dropped 3.58 percent to 755p.

Online price comparison site Moneysupermarket.com (LSE: MONY) led the 250 with a gain of 4.8 percent to 191p.

The biggest loser on the 250 was holding company Rank Group (LSE: RNK), which fell 21.38 percent to 125p on the session.

House builders were still feeling the pain of Thursday’s new data showing that home prices fell again in September.

Persimmon (LSE: PSN) was 2.69 percent lower to 976p, while Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV) was down 3.19 percent to 699p and Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) dropped 3.27 percent to 281.25p.

In London on Friday, the FTSE 100 dropped 0.7 percent to 6,228. This translated to a gain of 0.1 percent for the week. Meanwhile the FTSE 250 was down 0.5 percent on the day to 11,118.6, 0.4 percent higher over the week as a whole.

The tobacco sector was higher. BAT added 1.2 percent to £15.17, while Imperial Tobacco ended 2.6 percent higher to £21.06 as Citigroup said that BAT will likely get more return to shareholders both this year and next.

In the food and beverages sector, Cadbury Schweppes added 0.7 percent to 564p on new bids rumors that had private equity interested. US chocolate maker Hershey’s was also seen as a possible merger partner after its less-than-spectacular report earlier in the week.

The leisure sector was also hit by merger talk surrounding Rank Group, which gained 1.6 percent to 226½p.

Miners were lower on the day, with Xstrata the biggest loser among blue-chip stocks as it dropped 3.2 percent to £23.47. The pharmaceuticals sector was also down, with Shire falling 1.6 percent to £10.81 on a downgrade from Citigroup.

Among banks, Lloyds TSB was 0.3 percent lower to 583½p even though HSBC issued an increased recommendation, from “neutral” to “overweight”, and set a target share price of 630p.

London’s equities markets were mixed on Friday. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.5 percent to close at 6,021.5 after falling as low as 5,985.2 during the day, bringing its decline over the week to 1.6 percent. On the other hand, the FTSE 250 added 0.2 percent on the session and was up by the same amount for the week, to close at 10,698.9.

Miners were higher, with Xstrata 2 percent higher to £23.26 and Antofagtasta adding 3.2 percent to 495p as Goldman Sachs predicted that commodities prices will be going up further. The broker put Xstrata on its “conviction buy” list.

Leisure group Rank dropped 2.9 percent to 270p after a rumored bid was not forthcoming and Citigroup downgraded it to “hold”. Meanwhile, cruise operator Carnival fell 1.9 percent to £24.29 on a reduced recommendation, from “buy” to “hold”, from Merrill Lynch.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, AstraZeneca dropped 2.1 percent to £28.90 as sterling gained ground over the US dollar.

Among insurance companies, Legal & General fell 2.2 percent to 148½p as bids rumors faded.

Construction materials group Hanson was 1.4 percent lower to 719p.

Bucking the trend among the blue-chips, Cairn Energy added 4.4 percent to £20.57. Cairn is preparing to spin off its India unit with an initial public offering in Bombay later this month. That IPO is estimated to be worth as much as $7.5 billion (£3.8 billion). In addition, there was talk that Cairn’s Indian partner, ONGC, might be interested in acquiring Cairn’s assets in Rajasthan.

London’s equities markets were mixed on Thursday as the FTSE 100 dropped 0.6 percent to 6,048.9 but the FTSE 250 added 0.1 percent to 10,673.9.

Miners were mostly up on the session, the exception being Anglo American, which dropped 0.25 percent to £23.62. Rio Tinto added 0.8 percent to £27.15, while Xstrata and BHP Billiton gained 1.1 percent each, to £22.80 and 965p respectively. Analysts at Citigroup issued remarks saying that Billiton should divest itself of its petroleum unit and that Rio Tinto should get rid of its Industrial Minerals division in order to kick-start performance.

The pharmaceuticals sector saw declines. GlaxoSmithKline dropped 1.4 percent to £13.51, while AstraZeneca fell 1.9 percent to £29.50 and Shire was 2.1 percent lower to £10.19. There has been talk lately that GlaxoSmithKline might be interested in AstraZeneca, but some analysts believe that AstraZeneca is more likely to be a bidder, possibly for Shire, than a target of bids.

Building materials group Hanson added 0.5 percent to 729p on rumors that Mexico’s Cemex could be interested in bidding, especially after its bid for an Australian company was rejected earlier in the week. Meanwhile in the leisure sector, casino operator Rank was 2 percent higher to 278p on rumors that it could be a target for bidders.

London equities markets were up on Wednesday after the minutes from the latest meeting of the US Federal Reserve seemed to indicate that interest rates in the United States are likely to remain on hold for the time being. The FTSE 100 added 0.7 percent to 5,929.3, while the FTSE 250 was 0.5 percent higher to 9,581.5.

Pubs operators were up on the day. JD Wetherspoon gained 2.5 percent to 452p, taking its gains in the past year to 60 percent. Enterprise Inns was up 3.1 percent to £10.25 after Deutsche Bank upped its target share price to £12.

Still in leisure sectors, gaming and restaurant operator Rank was 2 percent higher to 219p ahead of its half-year results, due out on Friday. Analysts look for Rank to sell Hard Rock Café and concentrate on its gaming interests.

Wolseley added 4.2 percent to £11.35 on talk that a private equity company might be preparing a bid, as well as on the idea that interest rates in the US will stay where they are at least until the end of the year. Wolseley makes 60 percent of its profits in the United States.

The oil sector was mixed. Premier Oil was up by 2.3 percent to £10.12 as bids talk continued. One of those thought to be interested was Royal Dutch Shell, which dropped 0.3 percent to £18.98.

In London on Wednesday the FTSE 100 had its highest close since February 2001 as it gained 0.76 percent to 6,089.8. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was up even more, adding 0.89 percent to 9.871.8.

The construction materials sector was up on comments indicating that the US Federal Reserve might be nearly finished raising interest rates for the time being. Companies with large US operations should see benefit should this be the case. Hanson was up 4.25 percent to 760½p, while Wolseley added 3.9 percent to £14.03. Also benefiting from the news on interest rates was Taylor Woodrow. With 40 percent of its business in the United States, the homebuilder gained 1.3 percent to 387¼p.

Publisher Emap added 3.6 percent to 869½p on rumors that several entities are interested in purchasing its French business. Once it sheds that unit, Emap itself was said to be a possible target for bids.

Casino operator London Clubs International added 7 percent to 115p, also on bids rumors. There is talk that Ladbrokes will try for LCI once it sells its Hilton hotel interests. US group Boyd Gaming is also said to be interested. Ladbrokes was up 0.4 percent to 418½p on the day.

Leisure group Rank, owner of Grosvenor Casinos, was up 2.15 percent to 225½p on a reiteration of a recommendation to “buy” from Citigroup, citing it as an attractive takeover target if it gets rid of its losing Deluxe Media business. Elsewhere in the sector, Stanley Leisure added 4.5 percent to 713½p and William Hill advanced by 1.16 percent to 609½p.

Imperial Tobacco was up 4 percent to £17.54, a five-year high share price, on speculation that it would make an offer for Franco-Spanish tobacco company Altadis before the year is out. JP Morgan said that the deal was likely due to a combination of Imperial being in a strong position and Altadis’ share prices being weak. Along with these comments, JP Morgan also raised Imperial’s target share price from £18.50 to £20.00.

The London equities markets fell victim to profit-taking on Friday, with the FTSE 100 dropping 0.8 percent to 5,964.6 and the FTSE 250 losing 0.1 percent to 9,850.3. Despite the losses, both indices were up in the first quarter of the year, with the FTSE 100 gaining 6.2 percent, while the FTSE 250 was up a full 12 percent over the three months. Friday’s volume was 3.5 billion shares traded.

Miners have done very well so far in 2006, with Corus adding almost 50 percent and both Xstrata and Kazakhnys up by close to 40 percent.

As far as the daily results, broadcaster ITV dropped 4.6 percent to 119¼p on the news that it had rejected a second bid from a group of venture capitalists. Another loser was Dana Petroleum, which lost 4 percent to £10.08 when it was learned that Merrill Lynch and ABN Amro are placing around 20 percent of the company’s share capital for sale.

Water companies were also down as investors worried that they might be fined for not meeting customer service standards. Severn Trent lost 2.5 percent to £11.17, while Kelda was down 2.2 percent to 788½p and Pennon Group declined by 1.6 percent to £13.41.

The leisure sector saw gains, with Rank Group up 3.4 percent to 225½p amid bid rumors. Stanley Leisure added 2.5 percent to 734p.

In the retail sector, Marks and Spencer gained 0.6 percent to 556½p on the announcement that it had sold its US supermarket unit, Kings Super Market for £35.4 million. In addition, Deutsche Bank raised its target share price to 625p.