The London equities markets were higher on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 adding 0.6 percent to 6,086.4 and the FTSE 250 up 0.7 percent to 10,834.1. The oil and mining sectors helped in the gains.

In the telecommunications sector, Carphone Warehouse was 7.6 percent higher to 291¾p after its chief executive told Merrill Lynch Monday night that it has gotten back some contract business from Vodafone.

Premier Foods added 6.9 percent to 301½p as rumors circulated that the private equity owners of United Biscuits would be interested in a takeover attempt. Most analysts did not credit the possibility, however, and put the gains more to the recent bid by Premier for rival RHM, which gained 5.7 percent to 377¾p. If the Premier/RHM deal goes through the company created will be the UK’s leading food producer.

In the oil sector, BP was 1.8 percent higher to 578p when UBS named it one of its top picks for next year. Meanwhile, Royal Dutch Shell added 2 percent to £18.25 after ABN Amro raised its recommendation to “buy”.

Among miners, Anglo American was up 3.2 percent to £24.55 on talk that Larry Yung was interested in further building his stake in the company. Higher copper prices sent both Kazakhmys and Antofagasta higher as well. Kazakhmys added 3.1 percent to £12.17, while Antofagasta gained 4.6 percent to 530p.

In the tobacco sector, Gallaher was 3 percent higher to 986½p on expectations of consolidation within the sector. However, SG Securities reiterated its “sell” recommendation on the tobacco company on the basis that it was an unlikely takeover target.

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.

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.