In London on Monday the FTSE 100 fell 1.05 percent to 6,459.3 and the FTSE 250 dropped 1.07 percent to 11,177.9.

The biggest loser on the 100 was British Energy Group (LSE: BGY), which fell 8.12 percent to 532p on the news that two nuclear generators will be out of service longer than previously anticipated after new problems there.

Banks were lower.

Lloyds TSB (LSE: LLOY) was 1.2 percent lower to 530p, while Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) was down 1.6 percent to 580p and Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS; NYSE: RBS PRM) dropped 1.7 percent to 502p.

Miners fell after base metals prices dropped.

BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT; ASX: BHP; NYSE: BHP) was down 3.9 percent to £17.64 and Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) was 5.04 percent lower to £20.54, while Xstrata (LSE: XTA) also fell 5.04 percent to £36.20 and Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) dropped 5.15 percent to €14.55.

With crude oil prices also lower, Tullow Oil was down 5.79 percent to 585.5p.

Among gainers on the day, supermarket chain Wm Morrison (LSE: MRW) was up 1.62 percent to 297.25p while elsewhere in the retail sector Home Retail (LSE: HOME) added 1.81 percent to 380p.

Cruise line operator Carnival (LSE: CCL; NYSE: CCL) gained 1.61 percent to £22.68.

Equities markets in London declined Wednesday as the FTSE 100 was 0.56 percent lower to 6,109.3 and the FTSE 250 dropped 0.99 percent to 10,889.3.

UK banks followed European banks lower.

HSBC (LSE: HSBA; NYSE: HBC; Euronext: HSBC; SEHK: 005) was down 2 percent to 883.5p, while Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS; NYSE: RBS PRM) fell 2.2 percent to 561p after it said it won’t reduce its bid, in consortium with other banks, for ABN Amro (Euronext: AAB; NYSE: ABN) to reflect ABN’s lower value after a dividend payout.

Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN; SEHK: 2888) was 2.25 percent lower to £15.62, while Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) had the worst day on the 100 as it dropped 5.3 percent to 687.5p after it said it could miss its profits forecast.

Miners were lower as well after copper prices fell 1.2 percent in London to $7,329 per tonne.

BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT; NYSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) was down 1.7 percent to £12.76, while Anglo American (LSE: AAL) was 1.9 percent lower to £27.25.

Housebuilders and property investors had a better day.

Persimmon (LSE: PSN) was the best performer on the 100 with a gain of 3.88 percent to £12.58, while Berkeley Group Holdings (LSE: BKG) topped the 250 as it added 4.67 percent to £16.14.

Bovis Homes (LSE: BVS) was up 4.07 percent to 805p, while Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV) was 2.77 percent higher to 945p and Hammerson gained 2.14 percent to £12.40.

On the other hand, property investors Quintain Estates & Development (LSE: QED) had the worst day on the 250 as it dropped 9.62 percent to 817p.

In London on Wednesday, the FTSE 100 was 1.8 percent lower to 6,171.6. The decline came after yesterday’s 2.3 percent decline and negated all the gains the index has made since the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 dropped 0.88 percent to 11,082.90. The 100 lost 114.6 points on the day, while the 250 was 98 points lower.

Miners again were among the biggest losers on the day, hurt by indications that Chinese demand for metals will decline. Xstrata (LSE: XTA) dropped 3.4 percent to £23.96, while Anglo American (LSE: AAL) fell 3.6 percent to £24.38.

Banks also had a hard day of it. HBOS (LSE: HBOS) was 4.5 percent lower to £10.81 after it reported an annual profit that was around where analysts had expected it to be but also issued a warning that margins could fall due to less income from default charges that banks were ordered to reduce by the Office of Fair Trade.

Elsewhere in the sector, Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN), which focuses on emerging markets, dropped 1.5 percent to £14.28. Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) was 1.8 percent lower to £11.35, while Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS; NYSE: RBS PRM) fell 2.8 percent to £20.10 and Barclays (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) was down 3.6 percent to 740p.

Both the FTSE 100 and the FTSE 250 were higher on Wednesday. The 100 added 1.4 percent to 6,314.8, its highest close since January 3, while the 250 was 0.8 percent higher to 11,192.8.

The oil sector gained on the announcement that the United States plans to double the size of its strategic oil reserves by buying an extra 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day, as well as on a report that Dominion Resources, a US company, had received a bid. BP added 0.6 percent to 548½p, while Royal Dutch Shell gained 1.2 percent to £17.39.

Banks were up as well. Alliance & Leicester was 2.6 percent higher to £11.11, while Royal Bank of Scotland gained 2.9 percent to £21.03 and Northern Rock added 4.1 percent to £12.12 on higher profits than expected and record mortgage lending.

In the mining sector, Kazakhmys added 4.8 percent to £11.19 on a positive broker recommendation. Vedanta Resources was 5.8 percent higher to £11.90 on takeover rumors.

Properties groups benefited after the most recent Bank of England meeting minutes were revealed, showing that the vote was very close on the interest rate hike earlier this month. The closeness of the vote brought hope that interest rates would not be going up again soon, a positive sign for the properties market. British Land added 2.9 percent to £16.12, while Liberty International gained 4.4 percent to £13.18.

The London equities markets made little headway on Wednesday as investors took profits and waited to see new data from out of the United States before spending too much money. At midday, the FTSE 100 was 0.1 percent higher to 6,315.9, while the FTSE 250 was up just 4.1 points to 11,316.6. By the end of the day the 100 had managed just a bit more, closing up 0.13 percent to 6319.

Miners were down during the day, caught up in the profit taking. Vedanta Resources dropped 4.5 percent to £11.75, while Xstrata fell 4.6 percent to £24.48 and Antofagasta was 5.2 percent lower to 489p.

Shares in tobacco companies were higher after falling on Tuesday on the news that government officials in the UK are thinking about raising the legal smoking age from 16 to 18. Imperial Tobacco added 0.9 percent to £20.55, while British American Tobacco gained 1.4 percent to £14.80.

The financial sector was up as well after UBS issued positive comments on the sector as a whole. Northern Rock was 1.4 percent higher to £12.10, while Alliance & Leicester also added 1.4 percent, to £11.69. Royal Bank of Scotland gained 1.8 percent to £20.73.

Retailers also saw gains. Next added 1.3 percent to £18.65, while DSG International was 1.7 percent higher to 198¾p.

The London equities markets were mixed on Friday as the FTSE 100 closed lower after a brief journey above the 6,000 level but the FTSE 250 ended the day higher. The 100 dropped 0.2 percent on the session to 5,960.8, while the 250 added 0.2 percent to 9,996.8 after going above 10,000 for a short time during the day.

Construction materials company Hanson was 3.7 percent higher on the day to 773½p on positive analyst comments and bids rumors.

Politics resulted in declines in the mining sector as populist opposition leader, Michael Sata, seemed ready to claim victory in an election in Zambia. With major operations in Zambia, Vedanta Resources dropped 2.5 percent to €11.63 on Mr. Sata’s declaration that he will be tough on foreign ownership of copper in that country.

The banking sector was mixed. While Royal Bank of Scotland added 1.5 percent to £18.39 on an upgrade from “neutral” to “overweight” from JPMorgan, Standard Chartered dropped 2.1 percent to £13.68 after it said it would place shares in order to raise £1.2 billion to purchase a bank in Taiwan.

British Energy was 1.6 percent lower to 580½p as it cut its output forecast and as investors worried about inspections and repairs to two of its nuclear power generators ahead of a scheduled explanation of the issue on Monday.