In London, the FTSE 100 dropped 1.28 percent on Monday to 6,644.5 while the FTSE 250 fell 1.18 percent to 11,439.9.

The oil sector was higher on higher prices and on continued tensions between Turkey and Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq.

Royal Dutch Shell’s (LSE: RDSA, RDSB; NYSE: RDS.A, RDS.B) B shares added 0.69 percent to £20.55 while it’s A shares gained 0.54 percent to £20.56.

BP (LSE: BP; NYSE: BP; TYO: 5051) was up 0.57 percent to 622.5p while Venture Production (LSE: VPC) jumped 4.29 percent to 766.5p.

The biggest gainer on the 100 was chemicals group Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) added 9.92 percent to £18.40.

On the other hand, the worst performance on the 100 was turned in by Northern Rock (LSE: NRK), which dropped 20.86 percent to 216.25p after saying that while it is talking to several possible bidders, the talks are in an early stage.

Elsewhere in the banking sector, Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL) was down 5.81 percent to 754p.

Brewer SAB Miller (LSE: SAB) fell 4.72 percent to £14.13 after it said that while volume is up overall, sales have been slow in Latin America.

Over on the 250, the best performer on the day was online auctioneer QXL Ricardo (LSE: QXL), which added 4.58 percent to £12.55.

Holding company Rank Group (LSE: RNK) was the biggest loser of the day on the 250, where it fell 12.20 percent to 109.75p.

There were gains in London’s equities markets on Tuesday.

The FTSE 100 added 1.63 to 6,283.3 and the FTSE 250 gained 0.54 percent to 10,802.8.

The 100 was helped out by Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL) when the bank gained even more on the session than it lost Monday.

A&L was up 32.17 percent to 793p, by far the best performance on the blue chip index.

Other banks also gained although the sector was mixed.

Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) was up 8.22 percent to 306p after two consecutive sessions of over 30 percent declines each day.

Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) was 4.48 percent higher to 607p.

On the other hand, Lloyds TSB (LSE: LLOY) dropped 1.75 percent to 504p.

Also seeing a gain on the 100 was property investment group Liberty International (LSE: LII), which was up 5.06 percent to £11.

House builder Persimmon (LSE: PSN), however, dropped 0.53 percent to 941p, while miner Lonmin led the losers on the 100 as it fell 4.35 percent to €31.46.

Mortgage lenders did well on the 250.

Paragon (LSE: PAG) was 5.86 percent higher to 302.5p, while Bradford & Bingley (LSE: BB) jumped 12.28 percent to 313.25p for the best performance of the day on the 250.

Auto rental group Avis Europe (LSE: AVE) was 2.55 percent higher to 40.25p.

The oil sector didn’t do as well.

Venture Production (LSE: VPC) dropped 1.75 percent to 731.5p, while Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW; OTC: TUWLY) led the losers on the 250 with a decline of 3.95 percent to 511p.