The London equities markets fell victim to profit-taking on Friday, with the FTSE 100 dropping 0.8 percent to 5,964.6 and the FTSE 250 losing 0.1 percent to 9,850.3. Despite the losses, both indices were up in the first quarter of the year, with the FTSE 100 gaining 6.2 percent, while the FTSE 250 was up a full 12 percent over the three months. Friday’s volume was 3.5 billion shares traded.

Miners have done very well so far in 2006, with Corus adding almost 50 percent and both Xstrata and Kazakhnys up by close to 40 percent.

As far as the daily results, broadcaster ITV dropped 4.6 percent to 119¼p on the news that it had rejected a second bid from a group of venture capitalists. Another loser was Dana Petroleum, which lost 4 percent to £10.08 when it was learned that Merrill Lynch and ABN Amro are placing around 20 percent of the company’s share capital for sale.

Water companies were also down as investors worried that they might be fined for not meeting customer service standards. Severn Trent lost 2.5 percent to £11.17, while Kelda was down 2.2 percent to 788½p and Pennon Group declined by 1.6 percent to £13.41.

The leisure sector saw gains, with Rank Group up 3.4 percent to 225½p amid bid rumors. Stanley Leisure added 2.5 percent to 734p.

In the retail sector, Marks and Spencer gained 0.6 percent to 556½p on the announcement that it had sold its US supermarket unit, Kings Super Market for £35.4 million. In addition, Deutsche Bank raised its target share price to 625p.

In London on Thursday, the FTSE 100 again rose above the 6,000 level to close at 6,015.2, a gain of 0.9 percent that allowed the index to finish recouping the 100 points it lost earlier in the week. The FTSE 250 was also up on the day, gaining 0.4 percent to 9,855.1. Trading volume was at 3.2 billion shares.

Mining stocks played a big part in the day’s gains as Kazakhmys reported in its full-year earnings results that rising copper prices allowed its profits to rise by 53.2 percent, sending its shares up 9.3 percent on the day to £10.42. These results helped out the rest of the sector, with some miners finding record high share prices. Rio Tinto added 5.3 percent to close at a record £29.81. Xstrata also recorded a new high share prices of £18.92, a gain of 4.9 percent on the day. Antofagasta, also helped by rising copper prices, was up 5 percent to £21.60.

Mid-cap miners were also up. Randgold advanced by 7.4 percent to £10.44, while Aquarius Platinum gained 2.2 percent to 797½p. Vedanta Resources gained 7.1 percent to £13.76 had some saying that it might be picked up by the FTSE 100 in June.

Banks were up as well, as bid rumors continued to make the rounds. Alliance & Leicester added 2.3 percent to £12.17 on a report that Credit Agricole’s informal approach had been rejected as A&L looked for a higher bid. Spanish bank Banco Santander Central has also been said to be interested. Meanwhile, Royal Bank of Scotland gained 2.3 percent as well, to £18.95, as talk continued that it could soon attract a bid.

Among decliners on the day were the London Stock Exchange, which lost 6.8 percent when Nasdaq withdrew its bid for the exchange, saying that the LSE’s stock was overpriced in hopes of triggering a bidding war. Also down was William Morrison Supermarkets, losing 0.8 percent to 192½p on the news that the company’s chairman had sold 227,000 shares on 24 March, taking his stake in the company down to about 10.1 percent.

The London equities markets were up on Wednesday after losses over the two previous trading sessions. The FTSE 100 added 0.5 percent to 5,959.2, earning back nearly a fourth of the ground it had lost on Monday and Tuesday. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was up by 0.1 percent to 9,820.8. 3.3 billion shares were traded on the day.

Supermarket operator J Sainsbury added 1.6 percent to 332½p on its fifth quarterly gain in sales in a row.

In the retail sector, Marks & Spencer also gained 1.6 percent, to 558½p, amid rumors, discounted by some, that it is about to announce its expansion into India and will locate up to 200 stores there.

Mergers and acquisitions talk also gained speed again. In the banking sector, the Royal Bank of Scotland was 0.7 percent higher to £18.52 on talk that US bank Wachovia is thinking of bidding £26 per share for RBS. Citigroup is also said to be interested.

In the oil sector, BG Group added 4.3 percent to hit a record high share price of 734p after Exxon was reported to be interested in bidding on the company, to the tune of as much as 900p per share. Exxon is said to be interested in BG’s Kazakhstan holdings.

Elsewhere in the oil sector, Burren Energy lost 7.3 percent to 953p on a report that Tullow Oil had come up dry in a well it had been developing at the M’Boundi oil field in Congo, West Africa. Burren holds 31 percent of the rights in that field as opposed to Tullow’s 11 percent. Tullow lost 0.1 percent to 348½p on the announcement.

The London equities markets were down on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 losing 0.6 percent to 5,935.7 and the FTSE 250 down 0.4 percent to 9,816.1 on a volume of 3.8 billion shares traded. The declines did not seem to bother traders very much, however, as they put off much of the losses to simple profit-taking.

In the telecommunications sector, Vodafone lost 4 percent to 119½p after the European Commission said it would cut international roaming charges.

Rising crude oil prices sent BP’s shares up by 0.6 percent to 663p, while Royal Dutch Shell gained 0.5 percent to £18.44. Meanwhile, Dana Petroleum added 7.5 percent to £10.85 after it said it was on its way to increasing its production capacity to the equivalent of 40,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of next year.

Brewer Scottish and Newcastle gained 0.2 percent to 545p on rumors that it was being targeted for a takeover.

In the mining sector, Kazakhmys added 1 percent to 962p in anticipation of its full-year earnings report, due Thurdsay, and on a reiteration of Credit Suisse’s “outperform” rating. Elsewhere in the sector, Anglo American was down 0.2 perent to £21.42 on the news that its chief executive had sold 33,879 shares in the company.

Standard Chartered was down 2.8 percent to £14.82 on news that Temasek, Singapore’s state-owned investment company had purchased the 11.6 percent stake in the company from the Khoo family, which had held the shares for years. Also in the banking sector, Royal Bank of Scotland lost 0.2 percent to £18.40, partly because the Khoo family’s Standard Chartered shares were off the table as a purchase target.

The London equities markets were up on the day Friday and on the week as a whole, largely on substantial gains in the properties sector. The FTSE 100 was up 0.7 percent on Friday and gained 0.6 percent for the week as a whole to close at 6,036.3, the second time this week that it closed above the 6,000 mark. The FTSE 250 was up 0.8 percent on the day and gained 0.9 percent on the week, closing at 9,929.9. Friday’s trading volume amounted to 3.8 billion shares.

Banks were up on the same changes to real estate investment rules that helped the properties sector. Royal Bank of Scotland was up 1 percent to £18.67, while Anglo Irish Bank gained 1.4 percent to €13.44.

Among insurers, Prudential was down 4.8 percent to 681p when Aviva withdrew its bid for the company. However, Aviva reserved the right to renew its offer if another bid for Prudential materialized. This, some analysts said, meant that Aviva was prepared to mount a hostile takeover push. Aviva was up 1.2 percent to 831½p.

In the telecommunications sector, mobile phone operator Vodafone was down 1.4 percent to 125½p in anticipation of a change in European Union regulations on international roaming charges. Elsewhere the sector, Telent was up 2.1 percent to 408½p and Spirent added 8.3 percent to 48¾p as news that Lucent and Alcatel might merge helped the sector as a whole.

London equities markets were lower on Thursday as the FTSE 100 slipped back below the 6,000 level, closing down 0.3 percent to 5,990.1. The FTSE 250 dropped 0.1 percent to 9,865.6. Volume amounted to 3.8 billion shares traded.

Miners were up on the day. Anglo American gained 3.1 percent to £20.78 after it announced that it will double its previously announced share buy-back. This news helped the rest of the sector, and BHP Billiton was up 2.3 percent to 991p.

The retail sector was generally down. Clothing retailer Next dropped 3.7 percent to £16.62 on the news that like-for-like sales dropped by 8.9 percent during the first seven weeks of its fiscal year. Woolworths was down by 0.7 percent to 36¾p on a downgrade from “hold” to “sell” from Deutsche Bank.

Insurer Prudential dropped 0.7 percent to 715½p on concerns that a predicted bidding war for the company would not take place. Rival Aviva, however, gained 0.3 percent to 822p after rumors persisted that it was ready to up its bid for Prudential, made last week.

Supermarket operator Wm Morrison dropped 6 percent to 197½p after it announced a cost-cutting plan after posting the first annual loss in the history of the company. Analysts were not impressed by the plan as outlined.

British Airways ended the session flat at 360¾p on uncertainties over whether unions would approve the airline’s scheme to lower its current large pension deficit.

In London on Wednesday, the FTSE 100 closed up 0.3 percent to 6,007.5, the first time it has closed above 6,000 in five years. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was 0.5 percent higher to close at 9,858.6. Continued bid rumors and gains in the property sector were instrumental in the day’s advances.

Shares in property companies were up an the news that new rules on the introduction of tax-efficient property investment vehicles were less restrictive than they had been expected to be. Slough Estates gained 13.4 percent on the day to 685p, while Land Securities was up 12.9 percent to £20.80, British Land advanced by 11.9 percent to £13.00, and Hammerson added 9.2 percent.

BT Group gained 2.4 percent to 234½p on more intense rumors that a private equity consotium was going to bid, possibly offering as much as 265p per share. Elsewhere in the telecommunications sector, Cable & Wireless dropped 2.7 percent to 109¾p as bid rumors lessened in intensity.

Broadcaster ITV was up 9.4 percent to 650½p after it said it had rejected a bid from a consortium that included Apax Partners and Goldman Sachs, saying that the offer was not in the best interest of shareholders.

The London Stock Exchange dropped 3.3 percent to £11.38 when Credit Suisse downgraded it to “neutral” from “outperform”.

London equities markets were down so slightly on Tuesday that they closed virtually flat on the day. The FTSE 100 lost only 0.4 point to close at 5,991.3, while the FTSE 250 lost 4.9 points to close at 9,810.1. Trade was at 3.2 billion shares for the day.

In the steel sector, Corus Group gained 11.3 percent to 90p, its highest price since July 2000. The gains came on news that it was holding talks with Russian Evraz Group about a possible merger. Also leading to the advance was a move by UBS to raise Corus Group’s target share price from 85p to 105p.

Takeover rumors revived in the telecommunications sector, with talk circulating that Cable & Wireless could be a target, with private equity groups, France Telecom, and even Vodafone being named as possible bidders. C&W’s shares gained 6.4 percent on the day to 112¾p and 150 million shares in the company were traded. Colt Telecom was also a rumored target of a takeover bid, lifting Colt’s shares by 5.7 percent to 74p.

Bid rumors also lifted BG Group once again, sending its shares up 1.1 percent to 716½p.

In the retail sector, GUS was up 1.1 percent to £10.92 on a report from Deutsche Bank that the group will likely announce a break-up soon, possibly through a demerger of its credit assessment unit.

The London equities markets were down on Monday as the FTSE 100 dropped 0.1 percent to 5,991.7 and the FTSE 250 declined by 0.3 percent to 9,815.0.

Once again, bids and rumours of bids drove trade on the day. In the insurance sector, Prudential was up 10.6 percent to 743½p after it rejected a bid from Aviva, hoping to start a bidding war. Aviva lost 0.2 percent to 848½p after the rebuff. Elsewhere in the sector, Friends Provident gained 2.2 percent to 218¼p, Legal & General gained 0.9 percent to 144¾p, and Royal & Sun Alliance closed 0.4 higher to 140p after losing earlier gains.

BG Group was up 1.2 percent to reach a record share price of 709p on rumors that a major company, perhaps ExxonMobil, would bid on the gas utility.

Homebuilder Crest Nicholson added 4.6 percent to 570½p, for a total gain of 18 percent in a week, after it was said that it could be the target of a bid, perhaps from Bovis Homes. Bovis discounted the rumors.

MFI Furniture was up 0.2 percent to 102¾p despite broker surprise that it has put on 56 percent since last month due to rumors that it might sell its Howden joinery division. Despite the gains, broker Seymour Pierce confirmed its “sell” recommendation and left its target sha

In London on Friday, the FTSE 100 broke the 6,000 level for the first time in five years, rising to 6,044.0 at one point in the day before easing back to close at 5,999.4, up 0.1 percent higher on the day and 1.6 percent higher for the week. The FTSE 250 closed at another all-time high on Friday, gaining 0.3 percent on the day and 4.4 percent on the week to close at 9,845.9.

Bid rumors and actual deals drove the equities markets during the week. Vodafone ended the day down 0.9 percent to 129p even though it reached agreement to sell it’s Japanese unit to Softbank for £8.9 billion. Body Shop, conversely, gained 10.4 percent to 296p on news that it had made a deal with L’Oreal.

Prudential gained 7.1 percent to 672p. The insurer is seen as a bid target for both Axa of France and Aviva. Aviva was up 2.8 percent to 850½p. Another bid target, banker Lloyds TSB, was up 1.1 percent to 551p after new rumors that a US company is interested.

Airport operator BAA dropped 1.2 percent to 828½p after it rejected a bid of 810p per share from Spain’s Grupo Ferrovial.

In the utilities sector, BG Group gained 1.4 percent to 700½p as rumor had a bid coming soon to the gas company.