In London on Friday, the FTSE 100 closed up 1.7 percent to 5,655.2, while the FTSE 250 added 2.4 percent to 9,024.7 on a volume of 2.6 billion shares traded. Despite the gains, the 100 closed out the week 1.9 percent lower overall, while the 250 lost 4.5 percent during the week.

Banks contributed to Friday’s gains, with an upgrade from “underweight” to “neutral” from Merrill Lynch, which said that with global economies growing and inflation under control, banks continued to be in a growth phase. HSBC added 1.2 percent to 934p, Royal Bank of Scotland was up 2.6 percent to £17.86, HBOS gained 3.1 percent to 965p on positive comments from Credit Suisse, and Northern Rock advanced by 3.8 percent to £10.05.

Miners also did well. Among the blue chips, Xstrata added 4.3 percent to £18.93 and Anglo American was up 4.9 percent to £19.36. Mid-caps also saw advances, as Lonmin gained 6.4 percent to £23.90, while Vedanta advanced by 7.2 percent to £12.05.

In the insurance sector, Aviva added 2.3 percent to 729½p on rumors that hedge funds were looking at the company’s shares. Meanwhile, fund manager Man Group advanced by 2.7 percent to £23.42 on an upgrade from “overweight” to “buy” from Bridgewell Securities.

Banks helped the London equities markets higher on Thursday as the FTSE 100 added 0.45 percent to 5,749.7 and the FTSE 250 was up 0.1 percent to 9,310.4. The market was quiet on the day, with only 2.8 billion shares traded.

The mining sector was down on the day, providing the three biggest losers on the 100 as metals prices dropped. Rio Tinto lost 3.1 percent to £28.71, while Kazakhmys was down 3.3 percent to £10.98 and Xstrata closed 3.4 percent lower at £20.57.

Corus was up 1.8 percent to 398p on rumors out of Russia that the owner of Chelsea football club is seeking a minority stake in the steel company.

In the homebuilding sector, McCarthy & Stone added 2.8 percent to 787½p on rumors that the retirement home builder has received a bid worth 900p per share.

In the banking sector, Alliance & Leicester added 2.1 percent to £12.05 after Credit Agricole sold part of its stake in Greek bank Emporiki. CA said recently that it is thinking about bidding for A&L. Lloyds TSB was up 2.4 percent to 515½p on rumors that it might raise its dividend as soon as next year. Royal Bank of Scotland also added 2.4 percent on the day, to £17.65.

The London equities markets were mixed on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 down and the FTSE 250 a bit higher, but the 100 still managed to close above the 6000 level, ending the session at 6,004.7 for a loss of 0.3 percent on the day. The FTSE 250, meanwhile, added 0.1 percent to 9,892.3.

Pharmaceuticals were down after UBS downgraded GlaxoSmithKline and instead recommended AstraZeneca. GSM lost 1.5 percent to £15.00, while AstraZeneca dropped 0.2 percent to £29.00.

With crude oil prices falling on the day, shares in oil companies were down as well. BP declined by 1.5 percent to 664½p in anticipation of a trading update due tomorrow.

Banks were lower after it was reported that the New York Federal Reserve has ended a ban on any large mergers by Citigroup. The announcement led to rumors that Citigroup might look for a deal in the UK. Three possible targets - Barclays, Lloyds TSB, and Royal Bank of Scotland - all closed lower. Northern Rock was lower, as well, down 0.9 percent to £11.65 on a downgrade from “outperform” to “inline” from Fox-Pitt, Kelton.

Tate & Lyle declined by 1.9 percent to 564½p on worries that its artificial sweetener Splenda might not be safe. The concerns were caused by a US lobbying group that asked the Food and Drug Administration to rescind its approval of the sweetener. T&L defended its product.

Among gainers on the day were copper miner Kazakhmys, up 5.8 percent to £11.81, a record high share price. Meanwhile, retailer Marks & Spencer added 1.5 percent to 564½p.

Water companies were up as well. Pennon added 2.3 percent to £13.54 on the report that Severn Trent will spin off its waste management business. Severn Trent was also up, by 6.3 percent to £11.97.

In London on Thursday, the FTSE 100 again rose above the 6,000 level to close at 6,015.2, a gain of 0.9 percent that allowed the index to finish recouping the 100 points it lost earlier in the week. The FTSE 250 was also up on the day, gaining 0.4 percent to 9,855.1. Trading volume was at 3.2 billion shares.

Mining stocks played a big part in the day’s gains as Kazakhmys reported in its full-year earnings results that rising copper prices allowed its profits to rise by 53.2 percent, sending its shares up 9.3 percent on the day to £10.42. These results helped out the rest of the sector, with some miners finding record high share prices. Rio Tinto added 5.3 percent to close at a record £29.81. Xstrata also recorded a new high share prices of £18.92, a gain of 4.9 percent on the day. Antofagasta, also helped by rising copper prices, was up 5 percent to £21.60.

Mid-cap miners were also up. Randgold advanced by 7.4 percent to £10.44, while Aquarius Platinum gained 2.2 percent to 797½p. Vedanta Resources gained 7.1 percent to £13.76 had some saying that it might be picked up by the FTSE 100 in June.

Banks were up as well, as bid rumors continued to make the rounds. Alliance & Leicester added 2.3 percent to £12.17 on a report that Credit Agricole’s informal approach had been rejected as A&L looked for a higher bid. Spanish bank Banco Santander Central has also been said to be interested. Meanwhile, Royal Bank of Scotland gained 2.3 percent as well, to £18.95, as talk continued that it could soon attract a bid.

Among decliners on the day were the London Stock Exchange, which lost 6.8 percent when Nasdaq withdrew its bid for the exchange, saying that the LSE’s stock was overpriced in hopes of triggering a bidding war. Also down was William Morrison Supermarkets, losing 0.8 percent to 192½p on the news that the company’s chairman had sold 227,000 shares on 24 March, taking his stake in the company down to about 10.1 percent.

The London equities markets were up on Wednesday after losses over the two previous trading sessions. The FTSE 100 added 0.5 percent to 5,959.2, earning back nearly a fourth of the ground it had lost on Monday and Tuesday. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was up by 0.1 percent to 9,820.8. 3.3 billion shares were traded on the day.

Supermarket operator J Sainsbury added 1.6 percent to 332½p on its fifth quarterly gain in sales in a row.

In the retail sector, Marks & Spencer also gained 1.6 percent, to 558½p, amid rumors, discounted by some, that it is about to announce its expansion into India and will locate up to 200 stores there.

Mergers and acquisitions talk also gained speed again. In the banking sector, the Royal Bank of Scotland was 0.7 percent higher to £18.52 on talk that US bank Wachovia is thinking of bidding £26 per share for RBS. Citigroup is also said to be interested.

In the oil sector, BG Group added 4.3 percent to hit a record high share price of 734p after Exxon was reported to be interested in bidding on the company, to the tune of as much as 900p per share. Exxon is said to be interested in BG’s Kazakhstan holdings.

Elsewhere in the oil sector, Burren Energy lost 7.3 percent to 953p on a report that Tullow Oil had come up dry in a well it had been developing at the M’Boundi oil field in Congo, West Africa. Burren holds 31 percent of the rights in that field as opposed to Tullow’s 11 percent. Tullow lost 0.1 percent to 348½p on the announcement.

The London equities markets were down on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 losing 0.6 percent to 5,935.7 and the FTSE 250 down 0.4 percent to 9,816.1 on a volume of 3.8 billion shares traded. The declines did not seem to bother traders very much, however, as they put off much of the losses to simple profit-taking.

In the telecommunications sector, Vodafone lost 4 percent to 119½p after the European Commission said it would cut international roaming charges.

Rising crude oil prices sent BP’s shares up by 0.6 percent to 663p, while Royal Dutch Shell gained 0.5 percent to £18.44. Meanwhile, Dana Petroleum added 7.5 percent to £10.85 after it said it was on its way to increasing its production capacity to the equivalent of 40,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of next year.

Brewer Scottish and Newcastle gained 0.2 percent to 545p on rumors that it was being targeted for a takeover.

In the mining sector, Kazakhmys added 1 percent to 962p in anticipation of its full-year earnings report, due Thurdsay, and on a reiteration of Credit Suisse’s “outperform” rating. Elsewhere in the sector, Anglo American was down 0.2 perent to £21.42 on the news that its chief executive had sold 33,879 shares in the company.

Standard Chartered was down 2.8 percent to £14.82 on news that Temasek, Singapore’s state-owned investment company had purchased the 11.6 percent stake in the company from the Khoo family, which had held the shares for years. Also in the banking sector, Royal Bank of Scotland lost 0.2 percent to £18.40, partly because the Khoo family’s Standard Chartered shares were off the table as a purchase target.

The London equities markets were up on the day Friday and on the week as a whole, largely on substantial gains in the properties sector. The FTSE 100 was up 0.7 percent on Friday and gained 0.6 percent for the week as a whole to close at 6,036.3, the second time this week that it closed above the 6,000 mark. The FTSE 250 was up 0.8 percent on the day and gained 0.9 percent on the week, closing at 9,929.9. Friday’s trading volume amounted to 3.8 billion shares.

Banks were up on the same changes to real estate investment rules that helped the properties sector. Royal Bank of Scotland was up 1 percent to £18.67, while Anglo Irish Bank gained 1.4 percent to €13.44.

Among insurers, Prudential was down 4.8 percent to 681p when Aviva withdrew its bid for the company. However, Aviva reserved the right to renew its offer if another bid for Prudential materialized. This, some analysts said, meant that Aviva was prepared to mount a hostile takeover push. Aviva was up 1.2 percent to 831½p.

In the telecommunications sector, mobile phone operator Vodafone was down 1.4 percent to 125½p in anticipation of a change in European Union regulations on international roaming charges. Elsewhere the sector, Telent was up 2.1 percent to 408½p and Spirent added 8.3 percent to 48¾p as news that Lucent and Alcatel might merge helped the sector as a whole.

The London equities markets were lower on Wednesday, with the FTSE 250 having its worst day in five months. The FTSE 100 was down 0.8 percent to 5,812.9, while the FTSE 250 dropped 1.6 percent to 9,304.5 on a volume of 3.7 billion shares traded.

In the banking sector, the Royal Bank of Scotland was down 2.8 percent to £18.52. Lloyds TSB fell 4 percent to 521¾p.

Among miners, Anglo American lost 2.9 percent to £19.90, while Chilean copper miner Antofagasta dropped 3.2 percent to £19.57 ahead of its full-year results on a downgrade to “hold” from “buy” from Canaccord Adams on the theory that copper prices are peaking and profits are likely to decline in the future.

The pharmaceuticals sector saw gains on the day. AstraZeneca gained 2.6 percent on the day to £27.14 in anticipation of clinical trial results on its Crestor anti-cholesterol drug, due on Monday. Some analysts have been worried that sales of the drug could be hurt when Merck’s Zocor anti-cholesterol drug exits patent protection later this year. Elsewhere in the sector, GlaxoSmithKline was up 1.9 percent to £15.36 and Shire rose 0.8 percent to 906½p.

Broadcaster ITV was up 2.9 percent to 114p on positive reaction to its full-year earnings report and on the announcement that it would give £300 million back to shareholders in a buyback of shares.

The FTSE 100 had its worst day since last October while the FTSE 250 was also down on the day. The FTSE 100 lost 1.4 percent to 5,791.5 and the FTSE 250 was down 0.6 percent to 9,448.3.

The banking sector was mixed. Royal Bank of Scotland was up 2.7 percent to £19.09 when it announced that it would return £1 billion to shareholders in a buy-back rather than spend the money on a major acquisition. However Alliance & Leicester dropped 5 percent to £10.69 on investor displeasure over its full-year report, issued Monday.

Among gainers on the day was media group Emap gained 3.5 percent to 91¾p, its highest share price in several years, on the news that it will sell its French consumer titles and return part of the money to shareholders. Tobacco company BAT was up 2.3 percent to £13.59, its highest share price ever, on a strong full-year report. Oil and gas group Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping advanced 18.3 percent to 103½p.

Other companies in the oil and gas sector did not fare so well on the day. CDS Oil & Gas dropped 19.4 percent to 6.25p on the news that its first test well for its Chaco Basin project in Paraguay did not produce the expected results. Elixir Petroleum, listed on Aim, was down 42.9 percent to 26¼p when it announced that explorations in the North Sea had failed to find commercially exploitable hydrocarbons.

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.