In London on Tuesday, the FTSE 100 gained 0.98 percent to 6,376.8 while the FTSE 250 was 1.34 percent higher to 11,510.8.

Both indices were led by the oil sector. Royal Dutch Shell’s (LSE: RDSA, RDSB; NYSE RDS.A, RDS.B) A and B shares took the top two places on the 100, with B shares adding 2.9 percent to £19.85 and A shares gaining 3.02 percent to £19.79 after UBS (NYSE: UBS; SWX: UBSN; TYO: 8657) raised its recommendation on the oil group from “neutral“ to “buy“.

BG Group also did well with its shares 2.43 percent higher to 800.5p.

On the 250, Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW; OTC: TUWLY) was up 6.63 percent to 547p.

Meanwhile, SOCO International (LSE: SIA) added 7.34 percent to £21.65 for the best day on the 250.

Other gainers included miner Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ), which was up 2.62 percent to £13.33 on the news that profits were up 22 percent in the first half of the year.

In the retail sector, Home Retail (LSE: HOME) gained 2.63 percent to 429.5p.

The biggest loser on the day on the 100 was in the banking sector, with Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) falling 1.21 percent to 732p.

Bakery goods retailer Greggs (LSE: GRG) dropped 4.46 £50.50 for the worst performance on the 250.

Property-related groups saw declines on the day.

Home builder Persimmon (LSE: PSN) was 0.95 percent lower to £11.46, while property investor Liberty International (LSE: LII) fell 1.17 percent to £11.83.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Shire (LSE: SHP; NAS: SHPGY) dropped 1.15 percent to £12.95.

In London on Wednesday, the FTSE 100 added 1.81 percent to 6,196 and the FTSE 250 was up 2.55 percent to 10,910.7.

Miners were higher on the day after BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT; NYSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) announced that its underlying profit was up 35 percent in the full year on increased demand from China and on higher commodity prices.

BHP was 4.92 percent higher to £13.65, taking other miners with it.

Anglo-American (LSE: AAL) was up 4.68 percent to £27.52, while Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) gained 6.19 percent to 694.5p and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) added 6.81 percent to £32.80 and Lonmin (LSE: LMI) jumped 7.22 percnet to £31.77.

Pubs operator Punch Taverns (LSE: PUB) added 6.4 percent to £10.39 on positive broker comment.

Rivals Mitchells & Butlers (LSE: MAB) and Enterprise Inns (LSE: ETI) were also higher, gaining 3.8 percent to 704p and 5.8 percent to 611p respectively.

Some banks also saw gains. HSBC (LSE: HSBA; NYSE: HBC; Euronext: HSBC; SEHK: 005) was up 1.2 percent to 907p after it said it will close an office in Indiana next year and will eliminate 600 jobs on account of subprime problems.

Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN; SEHK: 2888) gained 2.2 percent to £15.75, while Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) added 3.7 percent to 728p.

Construction-related shares did well on the 250.

Construction engineering firm Keller Group (LSE: KLR) added 6.88 percent to 987p.

Atkins (LSE: ATK), which offers construction management and consulting services, was up 8.61 percent to £10.28, while builder Severfield-Rowen (LSE: SFR) was the best perfomrer of the day on the 250 as it gained 8.83 percent to £22.68.

The oil sector was mixed.

JKX Oil & Gas (LSE: JKX) had the worst day on the 250, falling 4.25 percent to 354.75.

On the other hand, Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW; OTC: TUWLY) was 4.4 percent higher to 483p after it said it had made a “significant” discovery offshore near Ghana.

The worst performer on the 100 was Scottish & Southern Energy (LSE: SSE) with a drop of 2.94 percent to £13.85.

In the telecommunications sector, Vodafone (LSE: VOD; NYSE: VOD; FWB: VOD) was 0.26 percent lower to 156p, while BT Group (LSE: BT.A; NYSE: BT) dropped 2.24 percent to 305p.

In the retail sector, DSG International (LSE: DSGI) was down 0.63 percent to 159p.

London equities markets were higher on Tuesday due to advances in a wide variety of sectors. The FTSE 100 added 0.7 percent to 6,072.7, while the FTSE 250 gained 0.9 percent to a new high of 10,244.5.

Asset managers had a good day as Schroders added 4.2 percent to £10.04, Amvescap gained 5.3 percent to 629p, and Man Group was 8.2 percent higher to 478p. Amvescap benefited from the news that the funds under its management have gone up from $428.9 billion in August to $440 billion in September. The September figure was a full $2 billion higher than some estimates.

In the telecommunications sector, Vodafone added 2.6 percent to 120¼p on an upgrade to “outperform” by Bernstein Research, which also set a target share price of 155p for the telecom company.

The oil sector was higher on gains in exploration companies despite another drop in crude oil prices. Premier Oil advanced by 4.5 percent to £11.70, a record high. Dana Petroleum, rumored to be interested in Premier, added 6.4 percent to £12.62. Tullow Oil and JKX Oil & Gas were both 6.1 percent higher, to 391p and 290p respectively.

Plumber and building materials company Wolseley added 3.9 percent to £12.11 on positive comments from JP Morgan concerning US homebuilders. Wolseley gains around 60 percent of its revenues from the US market every year.

Among losers on the session, Shire dropped 4.6 percent to 961p as investors decided that its 15 percent advance on Monday was out of proportion to the news that the drug maker had gained approval for its hyperactivity drug, NRP 104, for use in the United States.

The FTSE 100 closed down by 0.4 percent to 5,906.1 in London on Thursday, but the FTSE 250 added 0.2 percent to 9,601.2.

The oil sector saw gains on the day despite crude oil prices that were lower again after initial gains on the session. Premier Oil added 1.8 percent to £10.30 on talk that it could receive a bid from Pemex of Mexico. Cairn Energy was 3.1 percent higher to £21.32 ahead of the release of its half-year results next week. Tullow Oil gained 3.7 percent to 392¼p on reconfirmation of Deutsche Bank’s “buy” recommendation. In addition, oil services group Hunting was up 9.3 percent to 448p.

Among miners, Antofagasta managed a gain of 4 percent to 465½p on a gain in the price of copper.

Cruise ship operator Carnival added 2.9 percent on the session to £22.53 after a reiteration of Morgan Stanley’s “overweight” rating and on the news that Royal Caribbean’s earnings were up in its third quarter. This is somewhat of a comeback for Carnival, which was down 30 percent on the year so far.

Also staging a comeback was EMI, which has been in the doldrums since talks with Warner Music toward a merger were derailed in July. EMI added 2.4 percent to 267¾p on an upgrade to “outperform” from Cazenove, which cited the value of EMI’s back catalogue in light of the auction of BMG’s music publishing unit.

The FTSE 100 was lower on Tuesday in London with a decline of 0.8 percent to 5,880.0, affected by investor concerns that interest rates in the United States could rise again in August. In addition, trade volumes were very low with only 2.2 billion shares changing hands.

Rising crude oil prices helped the oil sector. Burren Energy added 2.9 percent to 914p while Tullow Oil gained 1.9 percent to 402p. Both were also helped by news that a French firm will sell assets, probably in Congo, to ENI of Italy; Burren and Tullow both have assets in the development in question.

Plumber Wolseley was also up on the day, finishing 0.7 percent higher to £11.48.

Unilever, up 12 percent in the past two weeks, added another 0.3 percent to end the session at £12.70. The consumer goods group, which is scheduled to release its quarterly report on Thursday, is expected to say that its underlying sales are up by 3.6 percent in the quarter. While Credit Suisse was optimistic about Unilever’s prospects, Lehman Brothers said that it would have to show its current valuation is deserved.

Online gaming had another bad day. PartyGaming dropped 3.4 percent to 105¾p, while 888 Holdings was 7.7 percent lower to 143p.

Miners were also lower on the day. Kazakhmys did better than most after Credit Suisse raised its target share price from £13 to £15 on an increase in production. Still, Kazahkmys fell 0.2 percent to £12.49.

London equities markets were mixed on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.2 percent to 5,506.8, mostly on declines in the oil sector, while the FTSE 250 added 0.7 percent to 8,782.2. 3.3 billion shares were traded on the day.

Homebuilders were mixed on bids rumors. Crest Nicholson was up 3.6 percent to 505p on speculation that one of its rivals would purchase the 23.4 percent of its shares now held by Heron International. Bovis Homes was the most mentioned possible buyer, sending its shares 2.2 percent lower to 779½p. However, some analysts see either George Wimpey or Barratt Developments as more likely bidders for the shares. Wimpey added 2.7 percent on the day to 428½p, while Barratt gained 1.1 percent to 868p.

In the banking sector, Lloyds TSB added 2.4 percent to 515p on an upgrade to “overweight” and an increase to 611p in its target share price by Morgan Stanley.

Bid rumors in the pharmaceuticals sector sent AstraZeneca 2. 5 percent higher to £30.16 on a revival of talk that Novartis will make an offer. The feeling of some analysts is that these rumors have gained new currency due to the bidding war over German drug maker Schering.

In the oil sector, BP lost 1.3 percent to 586p. Royal Dutch Shell declined by 1.8 percent to £17.35, while BG Group was down 3.3 percent to 635p. Meanwhile, Tullow Oil dropped 2.3 percent to 300¾p even though rumor had it that Royal Dutch Shell might be planning a bid.

The London equities markets were up on Wednesday after losses over the two previous trading sessions. The FTSE 100 added 0.5 percent to 5,959.2, earning back nearly a fourth of the ground it had lost on Monday and Tuesday. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was up by 0.1 percent to 9,820.8. 3.3 billion shares were traded on the day.

Supermarket operator J Sainsbury added 1.6 percent to 332½p on its fifth quarterly gain in sales in a row.

In the retail sector, Marks & Spencer also gained 1.6 percent, to 558½p, amid rumors, discounted by some, that it is about to announce its expansion into India and will locate up to 200 stores there.

Mergers and acquisitions talk also gained speed again. In the banking sector, the Royal Bank of Scotland was 0.7 percent higher to £18.52 on talk that US bank Wachovia is thinking of bidding £26 per share for RBS. Citigroup is also said to be interested.

In the oil sector, BG Group added 4.3 percent to hit a record high share price of 734p after Exxon was reported to be interested in bidding on the company, to the tune of as much as 900p per share. Exxon is said to be interested in BG’s Kazakhstan holdings.

Elsewhere in the oil sector, Burren Energy lost 7.3 percent to 953p on a report that Tullow Oil had come up dry in a well it had been developing at the M’Boundi oil field in Congo, West Africa. Burren holds 31 percent of the rights in that field as opposed to Tullow’s 11 percent. Tullow lost 0.1 percent to 348½p on the announcement.

The London equities markets saw declines on the day on Tuesday as mining shares fell victim to fears that rising interest rates around the world could curb demand for metals. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.7 percent to 5,857.4 and the FTSE 250 declined by 0.9 percent to 9,458.3 on a volume of 3.3 billion shares traded on the day.

Lower prices on metals sent mining stocks down. Antofagasta fell 3.9 percent to £20.21. Xstrata was down 3.8 percent to £16.74, while Anglo American dropped 3.7 percent to £20.50 and BHP Billiton declined by 3.1 to 934½p. Copper miner Kazakhmys, based in Kazakhstan, fell 3.8 percent to 855½p on comments from its chief executive that the company might spend as much as $2 billion this year in diversification.

In the steel sector, Corus dropped 2.7 percent to 72¾p on the news that it will be placed in the FTSE 100 on Thursday.

In the retail sector, N Brown lost 0.8 percent to 212¼p when investors moved to take gains on the news that the company could be a bid target. Book and music retailer HMV Group dropped 4 percent to 182¼p amid rumors that private equity group Permira could abandon plans to purchase the company since its offer of 190p per share was turned down.

Tullow Oil saw a gain on the day of 2.4 percent to 310¾p on the news that its partner, Hardman Resources, had found oil in a well in Uganda, even thought there were few details of the find. The news gained Tullow an upgrade from “reduce” to “hold” from Oriel Resources. Oriel also upgraded Hardman, listed on Aim, from “buy” to “add”, sending Hardman up 3.8 percent on the day to 82½p.

The London equities markets saw little movement as a whole on Tuesday as the FTSE 100 was down by only 0.1 percent and the FTSE 250 fell fractionally to 7,891.9 on a volume of 2.5 billion shares traded.

Before its decline, the FTSE 100 hit a 4-year high of 5,471.2 earlier in the day, but losses in New York helped the early gains disappear.

BAT was the biggest loser on the FTSE 100, dropping 2.3 percent to £11.77 as investors waited to see if the Canadian Supreme Court would allow a suit worth C$10 billion against the tobacco company to continue.

The energy sector was up, however. BP ended the day up 1 percent to 699½p after reaching an all-time high of 675½p earlier on an upgrade from “neutral” to “overweight” from JP Morgan. BG Group gained 0.7 percent to 534½p.

Among oil explorers, Burren Energy rose 2.7 percent to 846p on an initial “buy” recommendation from Merrill Lynch. Tullow Oil gained 2.5 percent to 254p.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Alliance Unichem led all bluechips as it gained 3.5 percent to 870p on rumors of forthcoming bids.

Meanwhile, O2 was up 1.6 percent to 155½p on an increased revenue guidance for its main operations in the UK and an upwardly revised full-year earnings guidance on its German unit. O2 shares hit an all-time high of 157½p earlier in the day.