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.

In London on Tuesday, the FTSE 100 closed 0.3 percent higher to 6,244.0, its highest ending level in five years. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 set a record high closing level of 10,559.9, a gain of 0.6 percent on the session.

Software maker Misys also had a record high close, adding 3.3 percent to 215¼p on the news that US medical software company Per-Se Technology had recommended a cash bid of $1.2 billion (£630 million) from McKesson Corporation. This had implications for Misys in that Per-Se’s largest shareholder is ValueAct Capital; Misys new chief executive, Mike Lawrie, previously worked for ValueAct, which has been building its holdings in Misys since Lawrie’s appointment was announced in mid-October. ValueAct now holds 5.1 percent of Misys.

In the retail sector, Marks & Spencer was 6.3 percent higher to 696p, also a new record, on higher profits forecasts based on its better than expected interim report.

Metal-related sectors saw advances on the session. With zinc prices at a record high level, Xstrata added 1.3 percent to £24.20. Meanwhile, rumors of bids competition sent steel maker Corus 0.1 percent higher to 465¾p, as speculation ran that Novolipetsk might beat Tata Steel’s 455p per share offer.

Banks were lower, with HBOS down 0.4 percent to £10.90 on a downgrade from “outperform” to “in line” from Cazenove. Standard Chartered dropped 0.5 percent to £14.87 on talk that it could be preparing to purchase ABN Amro’s 40 percent share in Saudi Hollandi Bank.

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.

The equities markets in London took significant losses on Thursday as 2.9 billion shares changed hands during the day. The FTSE 100 fell 1.6 percent to 5,765 as miners fell substantially, while the media sector took the FTSE 250 2 percent lower to 9,176.2.

In the mining sector, BHP Billiton was down 3.9 percent to £10.51, Lonmin dropped 4.4 percent to £27.77, and Vedanta Resources fell 5.2 percent to £13.36. The losses reflected investor reluctance to take any risks at the present time.

On the other hand, oil exploration stocks rose with crude oil prices. Premier Oil added 0.8 percent to 957p, while Dana Petroleum gained 1.6 percent to £10.97.

In the media sector, EMI dropped 9.2 percent to 277¾p on the news that a European court had overruled the European Union’s approval of a merger between Sony Music and BMG as investors worried that the ruling might affect the proposed EMI/Warner deal, Meanwhile, Emap fell 14.9 percent to 712p after issuing a negative trading statement.

In the banking sector, Standard Chartered was down by 2.9 percent to £12.49 on concerns that it will need to raise $5 billion (£2.7 billion) if it wins the bidding for LG Card, the largest credit card issuer in South Korea. Analysts also pointed out that, with Standard Chartered’s purchase of Korea First Bank last year, the acquisition of LG Card would leave SC too heavily exposed to South Korea.

Gains on the FTSE 100 were few and limited. Rising oil prices took BP up just 0.1 percent to 641p. National grid gained 0.3 percent to 590p, while Tesco added 0.9 percent to 335p.

Both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 were lower in London on Tuesday. Among the circumstances leading to the declines were word of terrorist bombings in Mumbai and a slow start for the markets in New York. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.6 percent to 5,857.3, while the FTSE 250 fell by 0.7 percent to 9,320.3.

Companies with exposure in India were hurt by news that terrorists had bombed several train stations and trains in Mumbai, with considerable loss of life. Vedanta Resources declined by 1.6 percent to £13.70, while Cairn Energy was down 2.3 percent to £20.85 and Standard Chartered dropped 2.7 percent to £12.87.

There were big losses in the semiconductor sector, as Wolfson Microelectronics fell 13.2 percent to 386¼p, for the largest decline on the 250, on speculation that its second-quarter report could contain less than positive news. Elsewhere in the sector, wireless chip designer CSR declined by 7.5 percent to £11.

Among banks, Barclays lost 1.4 percent to 609p on rumors that it has received a broker downgrade due to slow growth in its investment banking unit.

There were few stocks in the black for the day. In the retail sector, Marks & Spencer added 0.3 percent to 585p on a first-quarter trading update that was in line with expectations. Pubs group Enterprise Inns gained 0.4 percent to 958p, while Scottish & Southern Energy gained 0.7 percent to £11.80.

The London equities markets were down on Friday at the end of a losing week. The FTSE 100 declined by 0.5 percent on the day and lost 1.7 percent this week to close at 6,023.1, while the FTSE 250 was down by 0.5 percent on the day and by 0.7 percent on the week to 9,878.7.

There were notable gainers on the day, however. In the banking sector, Standard Chartered added 2.9 percent to £14.56 after going as high as £15.17 earlier in the day on talk that Temasek of Singapore might buy more of a stake in the bank on top of the 11.5 percent it bought last month. Alliance & Leicester was also up on the day, by 1 percent to £11.23, on renewed bids rumors.

British Energy was up 0.7 percent to 662p after Lehman Brothers said that weakness in share prices in the sector due to declines in carbon dioxide prices were overdone.

Pharmaceuticals company GlaxoSmithKline added 1.6 percent to £15.56 on an upgrade from “equal weight” to “overweight” by Morgan Stanley.

Homebuilders were mixed on the day. Crest Nicholson gained 3.6 percent to 555p on bids talk, but Bovis Homes and Persimmon were both down, by 1.1 percent to £13.10 and 2.6 percent, also to £13.10.

Among losers, broadcaster BSkyB was down 0.9 percent on the day to 525½p on worries that it might be required to resubmit its bid for two licenses to carry English Premiership football.

In London on Wednesday the FTSE 100 reached a 4-year high of 5,494.8, its sixth best day this year and a rise of 0.9 percent from Tuesday’s close. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was also up, by 0.6 percent to 7,935.6.

Among the stocks helping the markets to their gains on the day was Standard Chartered, which gained 4.2 percent to £12.40, near its all time high, on strong performances by Asian stock markets. Standard Chartered recently bought South Korean bank Korea First, which has been a particularly strong market.

Schroders, the assets manager, which also has a great deal of interests in the region, was also up on the day, by 1.3 percent to 920p.

The mining sector was also up on the day, with Corus and Xstrata each up by 4 percent, to 52½p and £14.90 respectively. Also in the sector, Anglo American rose by 3.8 percent to £17.04.

The energy sector was mixed, with Royal Dutch Shell “B” shares up 1.6 percent to £19.46 but Burren Energy down 0.8 percent to 839½p.

Several media companies were up on the recommendation of ABN Amro. Among the media sector gainers were United Business Media, which gained 1.5 percent to 551½p. Also seeing gains were WPP with an advance of 1.7 percent to 586p and Reuters, which rose by 2.8 percent to 379¼p.