Equities markets in London were higher on Tuesday, spurred on by earnings reports and a strong opening in New York. The FTSE 100 added 0.7 percent to 5,895.5, while the FTSE 250 was 0.9 percent higher to 9,605.5.

With miners lower again on dropping commodities prices, some investors were switching into telecommunications and technology stocks. Sage, which produces accountancy software, added 2.2 percent to 247¼p. Among telecoms, Vodafone was 2.4 percent higher to 117½p. Vodafone was also helped for a second day by Telecom Italia’s move to divest itself of its mobile phone business.

In the steel sector, Corus was up 2.2 percent to 375¾p on positive comments from UBS.

Cruise ship operator Carnival added 3.6 percent to £24.33 on rumors that results from the summer quarter will meet analyst predictions. Part of this talk was based the fact that rival Royal Caribbean has upped its predictions for its summer results. In addition, analysts figure that a quiet hurricane season might have increased bookings.

The media sector was mixed. ITV was down by 2.2 percent to 98¾p as it seemed that advertising revenues for ITV1 could be as much as 20 percent lower in October. In addition, Cazenove repeated its “underperform” rating based on less spending by advertisers. However UTV, which owns Northern Ireland’s ITV franchise, added 1.1 percent to 370¾p.

The London equities markets saw declines on Monday as oil and miners were both lower on declining prices. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.5 percent to 5,850.8, while the FTSE 250 was 0.9 percent lower to 9,523.1. Volume was low, with only 2 billion shares trading hands.

The oil sector was down as crude oil prices continued to decline. BP ended the session at 583p, 1.3 percent lower, while BG Group dropped 2.6 percent to 659½p. Among mid-cap oil companies, JKX Oil & Gas declined 6.8 percent to 258¼p.

Miners were lower as well, as investors continued to worry that interest rates in China would be raised in order to slow growth there. BHP Billiton was 4.9 percent lower to 934p, Vedanta Resources dropped 6.2 percent to £12.39, and Aquarius Platinum fell 10.1 percent to 841½p.

In the retail sector, Next was 1.1 percent lower to £17.09 on doubts that rumors on Friday that private equity firms were interested in bidding would end up producing anything concrete.

The telecommunications sector did better on the session. Vodafone, with its Vodafone Italia division its second most lucrative asset, was 1.9 percent higher to 114¾p on the news that Telecom Italia’s board had met to consider restructuring that could include the sale of its wireless business. BT Group added 1.9 percent to 253¼p after it won a contract to provide Vodafone’s UK customers with broadband internet. Cable & Wireless, which was also in the running for the Vodafone contract, was still up 0.2 percent to 125½p.

In London on Monday the FTSE 100 was 2 percent higher, to 5,833.9 as quarterly reports continued to come in. The 100 as a whole was helped by the news that US hospital chain HCA is being purchased by a consortium that includes Bain Capital and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts for $21 billion. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 also saw gains, closing the day at 9,223.5.

Vodafone gained 3.6 percent to 115¼p when it announced that revenues grew by 4.5 percent in the first quarter. Even so, its head in Europe will leave as revenues in German and Italy were down.

In the online gaming sector, PartyGaming seemed to be attempting to recover from last week’s losses by adding 8 percent to 104½p.

Plumber Wolseley added 3.1 percent to £11.12 when it said it has purchased DT Group, a Nordic building materials supplier.

Amvescap said it would buy the private equity group owned by US investor Wilbur Ross, sending its shares up by 4.8 percent to 481¾p.

Bids rumors sent Whitbread 6.1 percent higher to £12.44 after it was said that Starwood Capital had an offer ready. The news spurred Panmure Gordon to reconfirm its “buy” recommendation and 1370p target share price on Whitbread.

On the losing side, GCap Media fell 7.5 percent to 197½p on an announcement of revenues lower than expected in the March through June quarter.

The London equities markets were mixed on Monday, with the FTSE 100 adding just 0.14 percent to 5,896.9 while the FTSE 250 dropped 0.44 percent to 9,390.1. Volume was very low, at only 2.2 billion shares traded on the session. At that, volume was pushed up by heaving trading in Invensys, at 206 million shares traded, and Standard Life, which traded over 170 million shares in its first day of trade.

British Airways was the best performer on the 100, adding 1.9 percent to 366p as oil prices dropped. Also doing well among stocks listed on the 100 was Vodafone, which was up 1 percent to 119¾p on anticipation of a possible bid for its 45 percent share of Verizon Wireless. Dresdner Kleinwort Wassterstein repeated its “buy” recommendation on the mobile phone company, citing a special dividend of 15p due later in the month.

In the retail sector, Marks & Spencer was up 0.4 percent to 582p ahead of its first-quarter trading update, due Tuesday.

Real estate was mixed, with Land Securities dropping 0.2 percent to £18.67 percent and Hammerson declining by 2.4 percent to £12.11. However, British Land gained 0.2 percent to £13.32 on rumors that it will introduce a new chairman at its annual meeting on Thursday.

Equities markets in London were mixed but closed very close to Monday’s levels on Tuesday as investors indulged in profit-taking after gains in the past four trading sessions. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.02 percent, less than a point, to 4,883.5. The FTSE 250 was up 0.09 percent to 9,505.6. With US markets closed for the Independence Day holiday, volume was light with only 1.9 billion shares trading hands.

The property sector saw gains among both blue-chip and mid-cap stocks. On the 100, both British Land and Land Securities added 2.8 percent, to £13.33 and £18.79 respectively. Hammerson gained 3.1 percent to £12.41. Over on the 250, Shaftesbury was up 4.8 percent to 549p, while St Modwen rose 4.9 percent to 469p and Great Portland Estates gained 534¾p.

Among telecoms, Vodafone was up 1 percent to 119p on positive comments from Deutsche Bank.

Positive sentiment from Goldman Sachs sent Marks & Spencer 1.9 percent higher to 598p, as it added the retailer to its ‘Conviction Buy List’.

On the other hand AstraZeneca dropped 2.7 percent to £32.19 when ING downgraded the drug maker from “buy” to “hold”, saying that its 12.7 percent share price rise in the past month raises issues of valuation.

London equities markets were mixed on Wednesday as the FTSE 100 added 0.12 percent late in the day to close at 5,665, but the FTSE 250 lost 0.3 percent to 9,093.1. Once again, volumes were low with only 2.5 billion shares changing hands.

Eighteen percent of all the shares traded on the day were from Vodafone, which ended the day up 0.2 percent to 114¼p.

The 100’s gains were helped by the mining sector, where stocks advanced as the prices of metals rose. Vedanta Resources added 2.5 percent to £13.09, while Lonmin gained 2.9 percent to £26.41 and Kazakhmys was up 3.1 percent to £10.95.

Online gamer PartyGaming added 3.25 percent to 119¼p on rumors that one US bank was telling its customers to buy shares because current attempts to make online gambling illegal in the US will not succeed.

In the media sector, ITV added 2.7 percent to 105¼p despite a negative trading update, as the broadcaster announced an increase in its share buyback.

Mitchells & Butlers added 0.4 percent to 505¼p. However, analysts said that it could have trouble on Thursday after an after-session announcement that Violet Capital, controlled by financier Robert Tchenguiz, no longer owns a reportable share of the pub operator.

The London equities markets were lower on Monday, as the FTSE 100 ended the day down 0.6 percent to 4,620.9 and the FTSE 250 closed at 8.981.2, a decline of 0.5 percent.

Worry over a vote in the US House of Representatives coming up this week on a bill that would make gambling on the internet illegal in the United States sent shares in internet gaming companies lower on the day. PartyGaming dropped 1.95 percent to 113p and 888 Holdings lost 3 percent to 191p. Even with a “buy” recommendation from Canaccord, Empire Online lost 10.1 percent to 82p.

Homebuilders were mixed on the day. McCarthy & Stone was up 0.9 percent to 869p on rumors that it has had inquiries from two sets of private equity groups. However Crest Nicholson dropped 0.4 percent to 498p even though there have been indications that the 23.3 percent of the builder currently owned by Heron International might soon be sold.

Bid rumors were also circulating in the tobacco sector, as there was talk that Imperial Tobacco could be readying a bid for Franco-Spanish tobacco company Altadis. Imperial lost 0.5 percent to £16.36.

Telecommunications company Vodafone lost 2.5 percent to 117½p as an attempt by shareholders to unseat the company’s chief executive seemed destined to fail.

British Airways, however, added 1.5 percent to 346½p as crude oil prices were down substantially when the first tropical storm of the season looked as if it would miss Gulf of Mexico oil production facilities.

London’s equities markets were up on the day Thursday as the FTSE 100 added 1.6 percent to 5,677.7 and the FTSE 250 gained 1.5 percent to 9,190.5.

The telecoms sector was mixed on the day. BT Group added 1.45 percent to 226¾p on rumors that Deutsche Telecom is thinking about proffering a bid. The rumor, reported by a German business magazine, was considered possible by many analysts. Elsewhere in the sector, Vodafone was up 3.5 percent to 118p on a “buy” recommendation from Credit Suisse. Cable & Wireless, however, dropped 2.5 percent to 97½p after it issued a disappointing full-year report and a cancellation of its announced share buyback.

PartyGaming was up 0.8 percent to 123¾p, but analysts believe that shares in the online gaming business will open 3 to 4 percent lower tomorrow, taking into account that just before the close of the trading day the US House Judiciary Committee approved legislation outlawing online gambling in the United States, sending the bill on to the full house for a vote.

Airports operator BAA dropped 5.6 percent to 787½p on news that the Office of Fair Trading will investigate the UK airport industry to determine whether the current structure of the market works to the advantage of consumers.

Gainers included pub operator Mitchells & Butlers, up 3.7 percent to 499¼p when stake building rumors by Robert Tchenguiz continued to circulate.

The mining sector also saw gains as metals prices rebounded. Kazakhmys added 5.4 percent to £10.76, while Antofagasta gained 3.6 percent to £20.68.

After big declines on Monday, the London equities markets were significantly on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 saw its largest percentage gain since April of 2003, adding 2.6 percent on the day to 5,678.7. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 put on the most points on one day in its history, gaining 405.7 points, 4.6 percent, to 9,234.3.

Only six companies on the 100 declined on the day. Among those were retailer Marks & Spencer, which lost 3.2 percent to 549p on a disappointing full year report, which included only a 5 percent increase in sales at its refurbished stores. Also down on the day was mobile phone group Vodafone, which was down 1 percent to 116¾p ahead of an earnings report due next week.

Commodities prices were on the rise once again, leading to steep gains on the mining and oil sectors. Among miners, Kazakhmys was up 13 percent to £10.82. Xstrata added 10 percent to £19.42, while Antofagasta gained 9.7 percent to £20.72.

Gains in the oil sector were not as large, but were still substantial. BP and BG Group each added 4.2 percent, to 635p and 673p respectively. Royal Dutch Shell gained 3.8 percent to close at £18.78.

The real estate sector saw big gains, as well. Hammerson and Liberty International were each up 7 percent on the day, to £11.23 and £10.42 respectively. British Land gained 6.4 percent to £12.38 after it said that its net asset value had climbed 32 percent and announced that it would change over to a tax-efficient investment trust status as quickly as it could. Land Securities advanced by 5.6 percent to £17.80 on an upgrade from Merrill Lynch.

London equities markets were down substantially again on Monday, with the FTSE 100 losing 1.2 percent to 5,841.3 and the FTSE 250 falling 2.6 percent to 9,557.3. It was the fifth session of losses in a row for the 100.

The mining sector accounted for a substantial amount of the declines. Xstrata and Kazakhmys each lost 8.4 percent, to £22.08 and £12.04 respectively. Xstrata is said to be looking for a way to fund an offer of £9.4 billion for Canadian miner Falconbridge. Elsewhere in the sector, Antofagasta dropped 6.9 percent to £22.73, while BHP Billiton was down 5.6 percent to £11.02.

The steel sector also saw losses as Anglo-Dutch group Corus was down 3.7 percent to 421¼p after US investor Brandes said that it has reduced its holding in the company from 4.8 percent to 3.79 percent.

Retailer Next was also down, by 0.3 percent to £17.45 even though Man Securities raised its target share price for the company from £19 to £22.50 before Next’s trading update, due on Wednesday.

Among banks, Lloyds TSB added 0.8 percent to 510p on a possible dividend yield of 6.7 percent.

The telecommunications sector had a good day. Vodafone, which had UBS hike its target share price to 153p and issue a “buy” recommendation, was up 1.2 percent to 125¼p. Meanwhile, BT Group gained 2.6 percent to 216p on rumors that it will have a smaller-than-projected pension fund deficit when it issues its full-year report on Thursday.