In London on Wednesday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.49 percent to 6,132.2 and the FTSE 250 added 0.91 percent to 10,891.9.

Hotels and restaurants operator Whitbread (LSE: WTB) had the best day on the 100 as it added 3.47 percent to £16.12.

The gains came on news that revenues were up 6.6 percent in the six months ending 16 August and were 8 percent higher in its fiscal second quarter.

Water utilities were right behind. Severn Trent (LSE: SVT) was 2.84 percent higher to £13.42, while Kelda Group (LSE: KEL) added 3.15 percent to 852p.

Insurers were mixed, however, with Standard Life (LSE: SLET) up 2.11 percent to 290p but Aviva (LSE: AV) down 0.99 percent to 698p.

Property developers and house builders were down on the session. Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV) fell 0.66 percent to 905p, while Persimmon dropped 0.77 percent to £11.55.

Beverage can manufacturer Rexam (LSE: REX), down 1.35 percent to 511p had the worst day on the 100.

The worst performer on the 250 was in the financial services sector, where Bluebay (LSE: BBAY) was 4.76 percent lower to 395p.

PartyGaming (LSE: PRTY) had the best day on the 250, where it gained 23.08 percent to 28p after a more than 7 percent decline Tuesday.

The FTSE 100 dropped 0.37 percent on Friday to end the week at 6,208.4 in a week where at least some stocks in the UK were affected by the elections in the United States on Tuesday.

The pharmaceuticals sector declined in the wake of the Democratic takeover of both houses of Congress on the concern that drug prices could be affected by legislation promised by House speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi to allow direct governmental negotiation of drug prices for recipients of Medicare. GlaxoSmithKline dropped 1.8 percent to £13.61, while AstraZeneca was 2.8 percent lower to £30.03.

Utilities were lower on speculation about takeovers in the sector after Scottish Power said that it had been approached by Spain’s Iberdrola. International Power dropped 1.6 percent to 338¼p, while Severn Trent was 1.7 percent lower to £14.03.

Among the mid-caps, homebuilder Crest Nicholson was 8.9 percent higher to 622½p after it rejected an offer from a group that included the Bank of Scotland.

Miners were higher on positive broker comments and bids rumors. Anglo American added 2.8 percent to £25.56 after one of the richest men in China bought a 1.1 percent stake in the miner, raising speculation that there could be a bid for the company out of China. Lonmin added 8.6 percent to £33.55 after Morgan Stanley raised its target share price to £40.

The London equities markets were higher on Tuesday, but barely so, with the FTSE 100 adding a bare 0.04 percent to 6,129.2 and the FTSE 250 ending the session 0.6 percent higher to 10,372.2.

Friends Provident helped the 100 with its 6.7 percent gain to 207p after its third quarter report did better than had been anticipated. The life assurer also revealed plans to increase it’s market share.

BSkyB was also higher, adding 1.1 percent to 543½p on positive comments from Cazenove.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Shire was 1.7 percent higher to 956½p on the possibility that it could renegotiate a profit-sharing agreement on a new attention deficit hyperactivity disorder treatment, NRP 104. The current agreement, with US company New River Pharmaceuticals, could give as much as 67 percent of the profits to the US firm. Credit Suisse, however, thinks that they agreement will change before the new drug goes on sale in the US early next year.

In the tobacco sector Imperial Tobacco, which said it is still looking for acquisitions, was 1 percent higher to £18.57. Gallaher, the maker of Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut cigarettes, added 1.5 percent to 890p on the hope that Imperial might bid, although most analysts see an offer for Altadis of Spain as more likely.

Shares in water companies were lower on the sessioni. Kelda Group was 1 percent lower to 866p, while Severn Trent dropped 1.6 percent to £13.96.

Both the FTSE 100 and the FTSE 250 were lower in London on Tuesday as the online gaming sector saw further losses. Also affecting investor sentiment was a report that inflation in the UK was up more than had been expected, which could in turn lead to a hike in interest rates from the Bank of England.

The 100 was 0.3 percent lower on the session to 5,681.7, bringing its losses to 3 percent in the past four days. Meanwhile, the 250 dropped 0.5 percent to 8,968.8.

The utilities sector had a good day, however. Kelda Group gained 4.2 percent to 844p on bids rumors. Kelda has added 7.1 percent in three sessions. Severn Trent was up 2.2 percent to £12.21, while Pennon Group advanced by 2.1 percent to £13.99. United Utilities added 1.7 percent to 637p on an upgrade to “buy” from Dresdner Kleinwort. Scottish & Southern was up 1.6 percent to £11.66.

Also seeing an advance was British American Tobacco, up 1.5 percent to £13.70 on a “buy” recommendation from JP Morgan.

BSkyB was down 4.3 percent to 517½p as investors worried about the satellite broadcaster’s plan to spend £400 million on its new broadband offering.

The online gaming sector was hit hard by the news that a grand jury in the United States had field charges against BetOnSports. Traing in BetOnSports shares was suspended at 122½p. 888 Holdings dropped 12.7 percent to 168½p, while PartyGaming fell 17.2 percent to 85¼p, SportingBet declined 35.5 percent to 182p, and World Gaming was down 38 percent to 69½p.

The FTSE 100 was up by 0.5 percent to 5,678.6 in London on Wednesday as the oil sector saw gains as crude oil prices were up again. The FTSE 250, however, dropped slightly to 9,197.2. Trade volumes remained below average, with only 2.4 billion shares changing hands.

BP added 0.9 percent to 618½p, BG Group was up 1.2 percent to 707p, and Royal Dutch Shell gained 1.4 percent to £18.41. Merrill Lynch confirmed its “overweight” rating for the sector as a whole.

PartyGaming dropped 2.1 percent to 113½p. Analysts believe that the drop is due to selling of the internet gaming company’s stock, which they bought earlier this month when four of PartyGaming’s founders sold 5 percent of the company.

In the media sector, EMI added 8.4 percent to 307½p on the news that it has turned down an offer worth 320p per share from Warner Music.

Corus Steel added 1.3 percent to 434p amid rumors that it has received a bid from either Severstal of Russia or Tata Steel of India. Earlier in the week, Severstal failed to completel a deal with Arcelor.

In the utilities sector, Severn Trent dropped 3.1 percent to £11.35 and United Utilities fell 3.3 percent to 630p.

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.

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.