In London on Thursday, the FTSE 100 added 0.8 percent to 6,300.3 and the FTSE 250 was 0.39 percent higher to 11,233.

British Airways (LSE: BAY; NYSE: BAB) led the 100, adding 4.53 percent to 403.75p after ABN Amro (Eurnoext: AAB; NYSE: ABN) raised its recommendation on the airline from “sell” to “hold”.

Consumer goods maker Unilever (LSE: ULVR; Euronext: ENA; NYSE: UN) was 4.26 percent higher to £15.68 on strong second quarter results and an improved sales forecast for the full year.

In the retail sector, Marks & Spencer (LSE: MKS) gained 3.42 percent to 635.5p.

The worst performer on the 100 was pubs operator Mitchells & Butlers (LSE: MAB), which fell 4.68 percent to 713p after it delayed a property deal due to problems in the debt market.

The decline took rival pubs company Whitbread (LSE: WTB) down 3.93 percent to £15.88.

Miners also declined on the day.

Rio Tinto was 3.19 percent lower to £33.35, while Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) fell 2.56 percent to £16.73 and Lonmin (LSE: LMI) dropped 1.84 percent to £33.14.

On the 250, construction group Alfred McAlpine (LSE: MCA) was the best performer as it gained 5.91 percent to 475p after it announced that the company will be split into two separately listed companies, one dedicated to business services and the other offering infrastructures services and project services.

Electronics group Invensys (LSE: ISYS; OTC: IVNY) was 10.07 percent lower to 341.75p, for the worst performance of the session on the 250.

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.