London’s markets were higher Wednesday, with the FTSE adding 0.41 percent to 6,306.2 and the FTSE 250 gaining 0.07 percent to 11,219.7.

Aerospace and defense group BAE Systems (LSE: BA) had the best day on the 100, adding 3.18 percent to 478.25p, while engineering and construction firm AMEC (LSE: AMEC) was the best performer on the 250 with a gain of 4.5 percent to 731.5p.

The chemicals sector was higher.

Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) was up 2.3 percent to £16.03, while Reckitt Benckiser (LSE: RB) added 2.74 percent to £27.39.

British American Tobacco (LSE: BATS; AMEX: BTI; KLSE: BAT) gained 2.57 to £16.79, which consumer goods retailer Home Retail (LSE: HOME) was up 2.5 percent to 410.75p.

Carphone Warehouse (LSE: CPW) added 3.38 percent to 352p on the news that it will jump from the 250 to the 100 beginning on September 24.

Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) and Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) will also reportedly be promoted to the 100. Insurers saw declines on the day.

Standard Life (LSE: SLET) fell 1.2 percent to 288.75p, while Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) was the worst performer on the 100 with a drop of 2.27 percent to 133.4p.

Pest control group Rentokil Initial (LSE: RTO; OTC: RTOKY) was 1.29 percent lower to 168.7p, while media group ITV fell 1.51 percent to 111p after it said it would sell assets and cut jobs to increase core output.

Brewer SAB Miller (LSE: SAB) was down 1.7 percent to £13.28.

The biggest loser on the 250 was International Personal Finance (LSE: IPF), with a decline of 4.78 percent to 224.25.

London’s equities markets were up significantly on Tuesday.

The FTSE 100 added 2.39 percent to 6,280.7, while the FTSE 250 gained 2.16 percent to 11,212.3.

There were only two losers on the 100.

Consumer electronics retailer DSG International (LSE: DSGI) dropped 0.2 percent to 146.9p.

Pest control and facilities services group Rentokil Initial (LSE: RTO; OTC: RTOKY) had the worst day on the 100 as it fell 0.52 percent to 170.9p.

Meanwhile, sports retailers had a bad day on the 250. Sports Direct (LSE: SPD) was 4.55 percent lower to 131p, while JJB Sports (LSE: SPD) had the worst day on the 250 with a decline of 14.20 percent to 172.25p on a profits warning.

There were gains in the retail sector, however.

Clothing retailer Next (LSE: NXT) added 4.25 percent to £19.40, while food retailer Tesco (LSE: TSCO) was up 4.39 percent to 433.5p.

In the mining sector, BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT; NYSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) gained 4.25 percent to £14.71.

The best performance on the 100 came from the banking sector, where Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) was 4.74 percent higher to 607.5p after it said it had a profitable month in August.

Electronics engineers Aveva Group (LSE: AVV) was the best performer on the 250 with a gain of 6.7 percent to 940p. Property developer Minerva (LSE: MNR) added 6.34 percent to 272.5p.

The London equities markets were slightly higher on Thursday on a slow trading day in which 2 billion shares traded hands. The FTSE 100 was 0.2 percent higher to 5,869, while the FTSE 250 gained even less, rising 0.1 percent to 9,459.9.

Among gainers on the day was Carphone Warehouse, which added 2.4 percent to 268¼p on an upgrade to “outperform” from Morgan Stanley on valuation issues. Also advancing on the day was beverage-can manufacturer Rexam, which added 7.5 percent to 549½p after its interim results were much better than rumor had suggested they would be. PayPoint, which operates electronic bill-pay terminals added 10.6 percent to 619½p on the strength of an upgrade from UBS on Wednesday.

Property developer Minerva added 5.1 percent to 280p, for one of the day’s best results on the 250, after an upgrade to “buy” from Merrill Lynch, based on an annual report that is anticipated to be positive. The report is due out next month.

Losers on the day included Rentokil Initial, down 4.7 percent to 152¼p after it warned that its largest division will not meet forecasts this year. William Morrison dropped 0.8 percent to 216p on a disappointing result in the TNS market share survey covering the four weeks that ended August 13.

The equities markets in London saw gains on Thursday, with the FTSE 100 adding 1.1 percent to 5,890 and the FTSE 250 up 0.4 percent to 9,461.6 on a volume of 2.6 billion shares.

Of the total number of shares traded, 93 million belonged to foods manufacturer RHM. The shares, 26.6 percent of the company, were sold at 266p per share. RHM ended the session 2.2 percent higher at 274½p.

In the banking sector, Northern Rock added 2.1 percent to £10.53 after Merrill Lynch advised its clients to buy Northern Rock and to sell Alliance & Leicester after Credit Agricole decided not to offer for A&L. A&L dropped 2.7 percent to £10.55.

Rentokil Initial added 2.7 percent to 159½p on talk that a private equity group has bid 185p per share for the pest control company.

In the tobacco sector, British American Tobacco was up 2.6 percent to £14.16 after the Florida Supreme Court confirmed a lower court ruling that threw out a damage award to $145 billion (£79 billion) against the US tobacco industry. BAT owns 42 percent of US cigarette manufacturer Reynolds American.

Retailer Woolworths added 5.6 percent to 33p as Morgan Stanley began coverage with an “overweight” recommendation and a target share price of 38p.

In London on Thursday equities markets were up as the FTSE 100 closed at 5,684.1, a gain of 0.3 percent, while the FTSE 250 added 1.1 percent to 9,192.8. Trade volumes are still lower than average, with 2.85 billion shares traded during the day. So far this week, the 100 has risen 1.5 percent and the 250 is up 1 percent.

Among homebuilders, Persimmon added 4.1 percent to £11.93 amid rumors that it is looking for a new purchase.

PartyGaming was up 3.1 percent to 123p, also on rumors that it is looking to buy. The talk is that the online gaming company wants to purchase a “bricks and mortar” gaming business.

Compass Group gained 3.6 percent to 258p, bringing its rise since last week Wednesday to 12.6 percent on the news that US investors have been buying shares in the contract caterer.

Construction company WS Atkins added 8.7 percent to 840p on full-year earnings that beat expectations, making it the biggest gainer on the 250 for the day.

The best-performing stock on the 100 was pest control group Rentokil Initial, which gained 4.5 percent to 149¾p on an upgrade from “underperform” to “outperform” and a new target share price of 171p from Morgan Stanley.

In the airlines sector, EasyJet added 2.8 percent to 392¾p on comments from Citigroup. British Airways, however, dropped 5.9 percent to 346p after it became known that its offices had been raided by the Office of Fair Trading in the course of a US/UK investigation into price-fixing.