London’s markets were lower again on Friday.

The FTSE 100 dropped 1.23 percent to 6,527.9 while FTSE 250 fell 0.98 percent to 11,299.3.

Insurer Resolution (LSE: RSL) had the best day on the 100 as it gained 2.12 percnet to 722p.

Housebuilders and the construction sector more generally were higher on both the 100 and the 250.

Persimmon (LSE: PSN) was up 1.15 percent to 971p and Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV) was 1.29 percent higher to 667p on the 100, while over on the 250 house builder Redrow (LSE: RDW) gained 3.03 percent to 383p and construction group Alfred McAlpine (LSE: MCA) added 3.54 percent to 555p.

Other gainers included paper group DS Smith (LSE: SMPS), which was up 5.31 percent to 228p on the 250.

Brewer Scottish & Newcastle (LSE: SCTN) was 1.19 percent higher to 766.5p on the 100.

Banks were lower, with Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) again leading the losers on the 100 with a decline of 8.61 percent to 186.9p.

Elsewhere in the sector, HBOS (LSE: HBOS) dropped 2.91 percent to 835p.

In the pharmaceuticals sector Astra Zeneca (LSE: AZN; NYSE: AZN) was down 3.64 percent to £24.61 after the revocation of an inhaler patent by European authorities and a downgrade from “neutral” to “sell” by UBS.

Advertising group WPP (LSE: WPP; NAS: WPPGY) fell 4.18 percent to 665p after it reported quarterly revenues that were at the low end of expectations.

London equities markets were higher on Thursday, with the FTSE 100 1.3 percent higher to 6,282.2 on a session where it saw all of its listed stocks finish in the black. The FTSE 250 was 1.1 percent higher to 11,221.5. Trade was brisk, with 4 billion shares trading hands.

Homebuilders were higher on mergers and acquisitions rumors. Wilson Bowden gained 0.6 percent to £23, while Redrow was 1.1 percent higher to 626½p and Barratt Developments added 2.3 percent to £12.09, amid talk that Barratt could be interested in Redrow if its bid for Wilson is not successful.

In the retail sector, supermarket J Sainsbury was up 2.6 percent to 445½p on the news that Lord Sainsbury of Turville reduced his stake to 13.9 percent by selling 40 million shares.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, AstraZeneca was up 2.2 percent to £29.03 after it outlined steps it would take in order to drive growth.

While no stocks on the 100 lost ground on the day, four did close even. Three of those, steelmaker Corus, at 601½p, tobacco company Gallaher, at £11.37, and Scottish Power, at 747p, are all in the middle of mergers and acquisitions activity. The fourth company to close steady was advertiser WPP, which also ended the session at 747p.

The London equities markets were mixed on Monday, as the FTSE 100 added 0.7 percent to 6,067.0 but the FTSE 250 declined by 0.4 percent to 9,878.9.

Miners once again were among the gainers on the day. Antofagasta was up 3.4 percent to £23.39, while Kazakhmys and Anglo American each gained 2.9 percent, to £12.35 and £24.05 respectively.

In the advertising sector, WPP added 2.7 percent to 690½p on positive comments from both Deutsche Bank and Lehman Brothers.

Media companies were also up on the day. Pearson, which owns the Financial Times, gained 2.4 percent to 781p. EMI added 2.8 percent to 257p as talk circulated that it might merge with US company Warner Music Group.

Rising crude oil prices sent BP up 1.8 percent to 693½p as traders predicted that shares in the company could go as high as 720p.

In the telecommunications sector, Vodafone gained 0.4 percent as it was rumored that Verizon, Telefonica of Spain, and the Blackstone private equity group could bid for the company.

On the other hand, word that GlaxoSmithKline will not be bought by Serono brought a gain of 1.2 percent to the largest pharmaceuticals company in Europe, bringing its share price to £14.94. Also helping GSK was an upgrade to “outperform” from Sanford C. Bernstein on the hope that it will have developed a H5N1 flu vaccine by early next year.

Losers on the day included hotels company De Vere, which lost 1.8 percent to 800p. Northern Foods declined by 3.3 percent to 95¼p on worries that bird flu concerns would impact its poultry business. Among chipmakers, Wolfson Microelectronics dropped 6.5 percent to 443p on a downgrade from Goldman Sachs.

In London on Wednesday the FTSE 100 reached a 4-year high of 5,494.8, its sixth best day this year and a rise of 0.9 percent from Tuesday’s close. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was also up, by 0.6 percent to 7,935.6.

Among the stocks helping the markets to their gains on the day was Standard Chartered, which gained 4.2 percent to £12.40, near its all time high, on strong performances by Asian stock markets. Standard Chartered recently bought South Korean bank Korea First, which has been a particularly strong market.

Schroders, the assets manager, which also has a great deal of interests in the region, was also up on the day, by 1.3 percent to 920p.

The mining sector was also up on the day, with Corus and Xstrata each up by 4 percent, to 52½p and £14.90 respectively. Also in the sector, Anglo American rose by 3.8 percent to £17.04.

The energy sector was mixed, with Royal Dutch Shell “B” shares up 1.6 percent to £19.46 but Burren Energy down 0.8 percent to 839½p.

Several media companies were up on the recommendation of ABN Amro. Among the media sector gainers were United Business Media, which gained 1.5 percent to 551½p. Also seeing gains were WPP with an advance of 1.7 percent to 586p and Reuters, which rose by 2.8 percent to 379¼p.