In London on Wednesday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.49 percent to 6,132.2 and the FTSE 250 added 0.91 percent to 10,891.9.

Hotels and restaurants operator Whitbread (LSE: WTB) had the best day on the 100 as it added 3.47 percent to £16.12.

The gains came on news that revenues were up 6.6 percent in the six months ending 16 August and were 8 percent higher in its fiscal second quarter.

Water utilities were right behind. Severn Trent (LSE: SVT) was 2.84 percent higher to £13.42, while Kelda Group (LSE: KEL) added 3.15 percent to 852p.

Insurers were mixed, however, with Standard Life (LSE: SLET) up 2.11 percent to 290p but Aviva (LSE: AV) down 0.99 percent to 698p.

Property developers and house builders were down on the session. Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV) fell 0.66 percent to 905p, while Persimmon dropped 0.77 percent to £11.55.

Beverage can manufacturer Rexam (LSE: REX), down 1.35 percent to 511p had the worst day on the 100.

The worst performer on the 250 was in the financial services sector, where Bluebay (LSE: BBAY) was 4.76 percent lower to 395p.

PartyGaming (LSE: PRTY) had the best day on the 250, where it gained 23.08 percent to 28p after a more than 7 percent decline Tuesday.

In London on Friday the FTSE 100 was 1.21 percent lower to 6,224.3 and the FTSE 250 fell 0.42 percent to 11,185.8.

Insurers were mixed on the day.

Royal Sun & Alliance (LSE: RSA; OTC: RSA) was the best performer on the 100 as it added 1.71 percent to 131.2p after JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM; TYO: 8634).

Friends Provident (LSE: FP) was also higher, gaining 0.53 percent to 191.2p.

But Old Mutual (LSE: OML; JSE: OLOML) had the worst day on the 100, falling 4.73 percent to 155.1p while Standard Life (LSE: SLET) was also lower, dropping 3.32 percent to 305.75p after Panmure Gordon (LSE: DUC) cut its target share price from 370p to 346p.

Pubs operators also saw declines on the 100, with Whitbread (LSE: WTB) 3.34 percent lower to £15.35 and Punch Taverns (LSE: PUB) down 3.6 percent to £10.72.

Other gainers on the 100 included clothing retailer Next (LSE: NXT), which added 1.02 percent to £18.87.

Electricity generator International Power (LSE: IPR; NYSE: IPR) was 1.55 percent higher to 426p.

Engineering group Tomkins (LSE: TOMK; NYSE: TKS) had the best day on the 250, adding 7.44 percent to 249.25p on second quarter profits that were down less than had been expected and after Cazenove raised its recommendation from “underperform” to “in-line”.

In the electronics sector, Cookson Group (LSE: CKSN; OTC: CKSNY) gained 3.93 percent to 753.5p after Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER; TYO: 8675) raised its target share price from 815p to 850p.

JKX Oil & Gas was the biggest loser on the 250 for the day, dropping 4.04 percent to 362.25p.

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.

London equities markets were up on Thursday, with the FTSE 100 added 1.25 percent to 6,697.7 and the FTSE 250 gained 1.22 percent to 11,809.

Most miners were higher on the session, but the sector managed to provide both the biggest winner and the worst performer on the 100.

Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) added 6.45 percent to £18.00, while Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) was 4.58 percent lower to £38.10.

Rio Tinto’s decline came after it put in a bid for Canadian aluminium producer Alcan (TSX: AL; NYSE: AL) and after Standard & Poor‘s announced that it would take a look at Rio Tinto‘s credit rating if the deal was completed.

Elsewhere in the sector, Xstrata (LSE: XTA) was 4.67 percent higher to £34.27 and Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) added 6.39 percent to 715.5p.

The best performance on the 250 came from oil refiner Hunting (LSE: HTG), which gained 8.01 percent to 842.5p.

Other gainers on the 100 included British Airways (LSE: BAY; NYSE: BAB), which was 5.26 percent higher to 440.5p.

Hedge fund Man Group (LSE: EMG) added 4.05 percent to 616.5. Public transport company Arriva (LSE: ARI) was the worst performer on the 250 as it dropped 4.09 percent to 751p.

Other decliners on the 100 included Whitbread (LSE: WTB); the leisure services group fell 2.47 percent to £18.98.

Property developer Hammerson (LSE: HMSO) was 0.88 percent lower to £13.55.

London’s markets saw declines on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100 down 0.24 percent to 6,615.1 and the FTSE 250 falling 0.56 percent to 11,666.8.

Retailers were mixed on the session, with Wm Morrison (LSE: MRW) up 2.48 percent to 313.75p but Home Retail (LSE: HOME) falling 2.35 percent to 438.75p for the worst day on the 100.

Conversely, the best performer on the 100 was in the leisure sector, where Whitbread (LSE: WTB) added 7.04 percent to £19.46 on rumors that it could be targeted for bids.

Other gainers on the day included BSkyB, which added 4.17 percent to 700p.

In the oil sector, BG Group (LSE: BG; NYSE: BG) gained 2.56 percent to 842p.

The pharmaceuticals sector was mixed.

AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN; NYSE: AZN) was 2.43 percent higher to £26.95 on an upgrade from “equal-weight” to “overweight” from Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), while Shire (LSE: SHP; NAS: SHPGY) was down 1.97 percent to £11.97 on rumors that it might be looking to make an acquisition.

Also lower on the session was property group Hammerson (LSE: HMSO), which dropped 1.65 percent to £13.67.

British Airways (LSE: BAY; NSYE: BAB) fell 1.7 percent to 418.5p, hurt by higher oil prices.

Equities markets on London were higher on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 adding 0.3 percent to 6,182.5 and the FTSE 250 finishing at a new high of 10,401.6, a gain of 0.4 percent on the session.

Retailers were higher. J Sainsbury added 1.2 percent to 396¾p after bids rumors surfaced late in the session, with private equity said to be interested. Marks & Spencer was helped by an increased target share price and increased earnings forecasts for both 2006 and 2007 from JP Morgan. M&S gained 1.3 percent to 656p.

In the leisure sector Whitbread, which owns Premier Travel Inns, added 4 percent to £14.05 on talk that it is ripe for offers after lower than predicted cash returns.

Miners were lower on the session, with BHP Billiton 0.6 percent lower to £10.14. Anglo American dropped 1.5 percent to £23.79 after the appointment of a new executive that was said to make Anglo more vulnerable to a bid.

British Energy was lower, as well, declining 3.5 percent to 422p after Societe General issued comments that indicated it thinks the energy generator ‘s output could drop by 8.5 tera-watt hours if it has to cut boiler temperatures at its older power plants. It was estimated that such an output decline could send shares down by 110p.

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.