The FTSE 100 had its worst day since last October while the FTSE 250 was also down on the day. The FTSE 100 lost 1.4 percent to 5,791.5 and the FTSE 250 was down 0.6 percent to 9,448.3.

The banking sector was mixed. Royal Bank of Scotland was up 2.7 percent to £19.09 when it announced that it would return £1 billion to shareholders in a buy-back rather than spend the money on a major acquisition. However Alliance & Leicester dropped 5 percent to £10.69 on investor displeasure over its full-year report, issued Monday.

Among gainers on the day was media group Emap gained 3.5 percent to 91¾p, its highest share price in several years, on the news that it will sell its French consumer titles and return part of the money to shareholders. Tobacco company BAT was up 2.3 percent to £13.59, its highest share price ever, on a strong full-year report. Oil and gas group Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping advanced 18.3 percent to 103½p.

Other companies in the oil and gas sector did not fare so well on the day. CDS Oil & Gas dropped 19.4 percent to 6.25p on the news that its first test well for its Chaco Basin project in Paraguay did not produce the expected results. Elixir Petroleum, listed on Aim, was down 42.9 percent to 26¼p when it announced that explorations in the North Sea had failed to find commercially exploitable hydrocarbons.

London equities markets were down on Thursday as the FTSE 100 lost 22.8 points to 5,849.3 and the FTSE 250 dropped 9.5 points to 9.462.7. Much of the declines could be attributed to losses by Reuters and weakness in the oil sector.

Reuters was down 10.1 percent to 405¾p despite revenue and profits reports that were about as expected.

Some retailers saw gains on the day. Beauty products retailer Body Shop was up 12.2 percent to 275p on a confirmation of the report that French group L’Oreal is thinking of bidding for the company, even though no firm offer has yet been made. Home furnishing and fashion retailer Laura Ashley, meanwhile, advanced by 12.9 percent to 17½p on an announcement that full-year profits will be higher than had been forecast.

Otherwise, the markets saw a series of declines on the day. In the telecommunications sector, Colt Telecom dropped 5.4 percent to 61½p after it announced a new share offering to raise equity. Investec repeated its “sell” recommendation on the company’s shares and analysts questioned the need and timing for the new offering. Meanwhile, telecommunications testing equipment firm Spirent declined by 2.9 percent to 51.3p after it announced that its full-year pre-tax profit was £4.9 million, much lower than the figure of £15.4 million from the previous year.

Defense contractor BAE Systems dropped 2.2 percent on the day to 437½p on concern over problems with its pension plan.

Utility Centrica dropped 1.1 percent to 293p after the parent company of British Gas reported its annual earnings were down 4 percent due to higher interest and tax bills. It said that it could not guarantee that gas prices would not go up.

The equities markets in London were up in mid-day trading on Tuesday, led by advances in the energy sector brought on by bidding wars on the continent.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.3 percent to 5,882.3 and the FTSE 250 advanced by the same percentage to 9.481.0.

While Eon and Gas Natural fought it out to see which firm would be able to acquire Endsea, buying among utilities listed on the London exchanges accelerated. International Power was up 3.8 percent to 285p and Centrica gained 3.7 percent to 307p, while Scottish & Southern Energy reached a record share price of £11.76, up 3.1 percent. British Energy gained 1.8 percent to 630¾p, helped by an upgrade from “sell” to “hold” by Citigroup, which also boosted British Energy’s target price from 360p to 530p.

Elsewhere, Numis securities upgraded online gaming company Partygaming from “hold” to “add”, helping Partygaming to a gain of 3.2 percent to 122½p. The upgrade came after a legal dispute with Empire Online had been settled. Empire Online gained 0.8 percent to 119p.

Credit Suisse, however, downgraded cruise ship operator Carnival from “outperform” to “neutral” after bookings were lower than expected even after promotions had been increased. Carnival dropped 2.6 percent to £31.86.

The London equities markets ended the day and the week at high levels on Friday, as the mining, banking, and energy sectors saw gains but retail and newspapers were hit by declines.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.3 percent on the day and 1.4 percent on the week to 5,846.2, its highest closing since June 2001. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 closed at an all-time high of 9,472.8, up 1.1 percent on the day and 1.6 percent on the week.

Mining stocks advanced on the news of a possible bid for Lonmin, the world’s third-largest platinum producer. A number of companies were considered possible bidders for the £3.8 billion company. Lonmin was up 24.8 percent on the news to £26.71. Other platinum miners were also up, with Aquarius Platinum gaining 14.8 percent to 700p and African Platinum rising 16.3 percent to 25p. Even non-platinum miners benefited, as Anglo American rose 6.1 percent to £21.45.

In the energy sector, Urals Energy gained 20 percent to 360p on an initial Morgan Stanley rating of “overweight” and a price target of 413p. Elsewhere, Empyrean Energy was up 18 percent to 137½p.

Rumors that Bradford & Bingley was readying a bid for Northern Rock sent shares in both firms. Northern Rock shares were up to £12.07 at one point, but settled at £11.50, a gain of 4.6 percent. Bradford & Bingley gained 2.8 percent to 461½p.

Shares in newspapers lost ground after Daily Mail & General Trust said it would not sell its Northcliffe regional news division. The Daily Mail dropped 12.5 percent to 652p. The announcement also affected others in the sector, with Johnston Press declining 6.4 percent to 457 p, while Trinity Mirror dropped 2.9 percent to 603p.

Investec reduced its rating of retailer Marks & Spencer to “hold” from “buy”, warning that sales, especially clothing sales, has fallen off significantly since Christmas. As a result, Marks & Spencer fell 1.3 percent to 507½p.

In mid-morning trade on Tuesday, the London equities markets were down, with the FTSE 100 down by 0.1 percent to 5,787.6 after early gains. The FTSE 250 was also down 0.1 percent to 9,321.4.

The biggest losers were in the online gambling sector. PartyGaming lost 5.9 percent on the FTSE 100 to trade at 121p while 888.com dropped 5 percent to 187¾p. 888.com trades on the FTSE 250.

On the other hand, properties firms British Land and Land Securities were up after British Land said that its net asset value and its underlying profits were both up. British land advanced by 0.5 percent to £11.91½. Land Securities saw even more of a jump in its shares, gaining 1.6 percent to £17.97.

The mining sector was up as well, with Asian commodities prices firmer. Rio Tinto gained 1.7 percent to £27.79, BHP Billiton was up 1.4 percnet to 956½p, and Xstrata advanced by 1.1 percent to £16.27.

Life assurers were up as well, with Aviva and Prudential each gaining 1 percent to 758½p and 604p respectively.

Engine manufacturer Rolls Royce gained 1.6 percent to 434½p on an upgrade to “buy” from “neutral” by Merrill Lynch.

Cadbury Schweppes also benefited from an upgrade to “buy” from “hold” and a raised target price of 620p, up from 565p, by Citigroup. The confectioners gained 1.6 percent to 566½p.

The London equities markets were down on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.5 percent to 5,725.1, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.1 percent to 9,240.7 on a trading volume of 3.6 billion shares.

Mining stocks were down on the day as metals prices continued to decline. Kazakhmys fell 3.8 percent to 819 ½p. Rio Tinto dropped 2.6 percent to £27.81. Antofagasta declined 3.2 percent to £20.13. Anglo-American was down not only on falling metals prices but also on a ratings cut from Citigroup, slipping from “buy” to “hold. Anglo-American fell 3.6 percent to £20.12.

Also down on the day was budget airline EasyJet, which fell 0.2 percent to 376 ½p even though the airline’s chief executive bought 134,000 shares at 374.17p each during the day.

Elsewhere, things seemed to be a bit better. Airport operator BAA gained 14.9 percent to 172 ½p when it was announced that Groupo Ferrovial of Spain was thinking about offering for the company. BAA said that it had not yet received an official bid.

GlaxoSmithKline gained 0.9 percent to £14.75 in anticipation of the pharmaceutical company’s fourth-quarter and full-year earnings reports, which are due soon.

Household goods group Reckitt Benckiser was up on Tuesday’s release of a full-year earnings report that had overall earnings in line with predictions and margins, earnings, and cash flow metrics had all exceeded expectations. The company’s shares rose 2.2 percent on the day to £19.78.