The FTSE 100 closed down by 0.4 percent to 5,906.1 in London on Thursday, but the FTSE 250 added 0.2 percent to 9,601.2.

The oil sector saw gains on the day despite crude oil prices that were lower again after initial gains on the session. Premier Oil added 1.8 percent to £10.30 on talk that it could receive a bid from Pemex of Mexico. Cairn Energy was 3.1 percent higher to £21.32 ahead of the release of its half-year results next week. Tullow Oil gained 3.7 percent to 392¼p on reconfirmation of Deutsche Bank’s “buy” recommendation. In addition, oil services group Hunting was up 9.3 percent to 448p.

Among miners, Antofagasta managed a gain of 4 percent to 465½p on a gain in the price of copper.

Cruise ship operator Carnival added 2.9 percent on the session to £22.53 after a reiteration of Morgan Stanley’s “overweight” rating and on the news that Royal Caribbean’s earnings were up in its third quarter. This is somewhat of a comeback for Carnival, which was down 30 percent on the year so far.

Also staging a comeback was EMI, which has been in the doldrums since talks with Warner Music toward a merger were derailed in July. EMI added 2.4 percent to 267¾p on an upgrade to “outperform” from Cazenove, which cited the value of EMI’s back catalogue in light of the auction of BMG’s music publishing unit.

London equities markets were up on Wednesday after the minutes from the latest meeting of the US Federal Reserve seemed to indicate that interest rates in the United States are likely to remain on hold for the time being. The FTSE 100 added 0.7 percent to 5,929.3, while the FTSE 250 was 0.5 percent higher to 9,581.5.

Pubs operators were up on the day. JD Wetherspoon gained 2.5 percent to 452p, taking its gains in the past year to 60 percent. Enterprise Inns was up 3.1 percent to £10.25 after Deutsche Bank upped its target share price to £12.

Still in leisure sectors, gaming and restaurant operator Rank was 2 percent higher to 219p ahead of its half-year results, due out on Friday. Analysts look for Rank to sell Hard Rock Café and concentrate on its gaming interests.

Wolseley added 4.2 percent to £11.35 on talk that a private equity company might be preparing a bid, as well as on the idea that interest rates in the US will stay where they are at least until the end of the year. Wolseley makes 60 percent of its profits in the United States.

The oil sector was mixed. Premier Oil was up by 2.3 percent to £10.12 as bids talk continued. One of those thought to be interested was Royal Dutch Shell, which dropped 0.3 percent to £18.98.

After Monday’s holiday, London markets resumed trade on Tuesday with slightly higher volumes of 2.2 billion shares traded and small gains in both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250. The 100 added 0.17 percent to 5,888.3 after going as high as 5,921.3 earlier in the session, while the 250 was 0.4 percent higher to 9,531.8

Airlines and cruise ship operators benefited from declining oil prices, which dropped below $70 dollars per gallon. Cruise ship operator Carnival added 2.6 percent to £21.74. Among airlines, British Airways was up 4 percent to 414¼p and EasyJet gained 4.5 percent to 454½p.

Brewers were up on the day as well. Diageo added 0.1 percent to 945p ahead of its full-year report, due on Thursday. SABMiller gained 0.6 percent to £10.13. Both were said to be interested in bidding for Australian drinks company Foster’s.

Another of the day’s gainers was plumber and buildings materials group Wolseley, which added 2.2 percent to £10.89 ahead of an interim report due next month. The gains came after Wolseley lost a quarter of its value recently.

Among losers on the day was MFI Furniture Group, which dropped 4.2 percent to 85p on reports that the sale of its losing retail business in the UK ahs run into problems. Also lower was coal-fueled power station operator Drax, down 1.8 percent to 902p.

The London equities markets were slightly higher on Thursday on a slow trading day in which 2 billion shares traded hands. The FTSE 100 was 0.2 percent higher to 5,869, while the FTSE 250 gained even less, rising 0.1 percent to 9,459.9.

Among gainers on the day was Carphone Warehouse, which added 2.4 percent to 268¼p on an upgrade to “outperform” from Morgan Stanley on valuation issues. Also advancing on the day was beverage-can manufacturer Rexam, which added 7.5 percent to 549½p after its interim results were much better than rumor had suggested they would be. PayPoint, which operates electronic bill-pay terminals added 10.6 percent to 619½p on the strength of an upgrade from UBS on Wednesday.

Property developer Minerva added 5.1 percent to 280p, for one of the day’s best results on the 250, after an upgrade to “buy” from Merrill Lynch, based on an annual report that is anticipated to be positive. The report is due out next month.

Losers on the day included Rentokil Initial, down 4.7 percent to 152¼p after it warned that its largest division will not meet forecasts this year. William Morrison dropped 0.8 percent to 216p on a disappointing result in the TNS market share survey covering the four weeks that ended August 13.

Both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 were lower in London on Wednesday. The 100 dropped 0.7 percent to 5,860.0, while the 200 was 0.4 percent lower to 9.454.2.

Miners were mixed on the session. Anglo American fell 3.6 percent to £23.80 after its shares went ex-dividend, while BHP Billiton dropped 4 percent to £10.14 on a weak annual report. Xstrata, however, added 0.7 percent to £22.65 after it was said that it might not have to resort to a huge rights issue in order to fund its purchase of Canadian miner Falconbridge.

High raw materials costs were blamed for the 1.5 percent decline to 511p for drinks can manufacturer Rexam, which uses aluminium in its products. The retreat came ahead of an earnings report scheduled to be released later today.

In the retail sector, Debenhams was 1.8 percent lower to 179½p on rumors that clothing sales are down for the department stores group.

Bucking the general trend downward was Regal Petroleum. The oil exploration group added 5.6 percent to 118p on news that the company’s legal woes in the Ukraine might be on the way to being solved as well as on the possibility of good news from its current exploration project in Egypt.

In London on Friday, equities markets were up slightly with the FTSE 100 up by only 3 points to 5,903.4 and the FTSE 250 adding 0.3 percent to 9.513.0. These small gains added on earlier increases, with the 100 up 1.7 percent over the week and the 250 gaining 2.8 percent since Monday’s opening.

Bids news spurred gains in the media sector. It was revealed that SMG, which owns STV and Virgin Radio, is in talks with UTV sent SMG 2.9 percent higher to 72p, while UTV added 7.6 percent to 344¼p. GCAP Media was also the center of takeover talk, sending it 3.2 percent higher to 215p.

In the tobacco sector, Imperial Tobacco gained 2.2 percent to £18.18 on the news that while a US court found Altria and Reynolds American guilty of violating racketeering laws it did not impose a fine on either company. Analysts said that this outcome made it more likely that the Phillip Morris division of Altria would make an immediate bid for Imperial.

Among losers on the day was PartyGaming, which was 2.2 percent lower to 111p after ABN Amro reduced its recommendation on the online gamer from “buy” to “hold”. Miner Kazakhmys declined by 2.3 percent on the news that China has raised interest rates weighed on mining stocks, as investors were concerned that the move would have an effect on the demand for metals. Among mid-caps, Carphone Warehouse dropped 1.7 percent to 266¾p after Citigroup began coverage of the company with as “sell” recommendation.

In London’s equities markets on Thursday, the FTSE 100 was up, but only by 3.8 points to 5,900.4 and the FTSE 250 added 0.4 percent to 9,486.6 as miners and airlines saw advances but the oil sector was mostly lower.

Dropping crude oil prices sent shares in air carriers up as British Airways added 2.7 percent to 293p and EasyJet was 3 percent higher to 425½p. Lower costs for oil also helped cruise operators, as Carnival gained 6.4 percent to £21.72.

The oil sector, on the other hand, saw losses on the day as both Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group fell 1 percent, to £19.17 and 708p respectively. The exception was Cairn Energy, which added 3 percent to £20.80 on Merrill Lynch’s repeated “buy” recommendation, which cited the IPO of Cairn’s India operations as likely to send share prices higher.

Bids rumors sent the mining sector higher. Anglo American added 2 percent to £24.20 as Morgan Stanley commented that mergers and acquisitions are driving the sector and raised the miner’s recommendation from “underweight” to “overweight”. Meanwhile, Vedanta Resources gained 3.1 percent to £13.83 on positive comments from Goldman Sachs.

M & A rumors also sent Corus Group up by 3.2 percent to 407½p with the talk that Evraz and Severstal are both looking at offering for the steel maker.

Among loser on the day was SAB Miller, which dropped 2.9 percent to £10.40 when UBS lowered their recommendation on the brewer from “buy” to “neutral”.

The London equities markets had another slow day, with only 2.3 billion shares traded. Still, both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 saw gains on the day. The 100 added 0.5 percent to 5,897.9, while the 250 was 0.6 percent higher to 9,359.6.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Shire was 0.7 percent higher to 888p on the news that it has reached a settlement with Barr Laboratories that will keep Barr from marketing a generic version of Shire’s attention deficit disorder drug Adderrall until 2009. Adderrall accounts for about 50 percent of Shire’s sales.

Homebuilders were also up on the session as rumors of consolidation within the sector circulated. Bellway gained 1.8 percent to £11.95, while Barratt Developments added 2.3 percent to 951½p and Bovis Homes was 2.4 percent higher to 811p.

In the telecommunications sector, Carphone Warehouse advanced by 3 percent to 263¾p amid rumors that a private equity company had offered 330p per share for the company.

Man Group was 2.2 percent higher to 415p, while Amvescap added 2.3 percent to 517½p as fund managers benefited from the notion that weaker than expected data out of the United States would make it more likely that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates at their current level rather than increasing them at its next meeting.

British Airways was 1.9 percent higher to 377p in London on Monday as the government in the UK lowered its alert level from “critical” to “severe” after the arrest last week of a number of individuals who were said to have planned to bomb flights from London to the United States. The gain helped the FTSE 100 add 0.8 percent to 5,870.9 and the FTSE 250 to gain 0.5 percent to 9,303.9. Volume was extremely low at fewer than 2 billion shares traded on the session.

After a 10 percent decline on Friday, fund manager Schroders was 6.5 percent higher to 929p.

Among banks, Lloyds TSB was up by 1.5 percent to 514½p as Goldman Sachs took Lloyds off its “conviction sell” list but still maintined its “sell” recommendation. Meanwhile, Merrill Lynch added Barclays to its list of top picks and reiterated its target share price of 878p. Barclays was up 2.1 percent to 649p on the session.

Shares in property companies were up, led by British Land, up 1.1 percent to £13.75 ahead of quarterly results due on Tuesday.

Among decliners on the day was BT Group, which was 0.9 percent lower to 240½p after a downgrade by Cazenove from “outperform” to “inline” following on a profits warning issued last week by Deutsche Telekom. Also down on the day was PartyGaming, which dropped 3.5 percent to 105¼p.

London equities markets were sharply lower on Thursday after the Bank of England announced that it had raised interest rates in the UK by a quarter of a percent to 4.75 percent. Most analysts had not expected the rate hike to come at this time. With 3.2 billion shares changing hands, the FTSE 100 dropped 1.6 percent to close at 5,838.4 and the FTSE 250 was 1.4 percent lower, ending the session at 9,264.3.

Sectors most seriously affected by the rate hike included mortgage banks, homebuilders, and those companies that market homes and land. Among homebuilders, Persimmon was 4 percent lower to £12.42, while Bellway fell 4.3 percent to £11.65 and Barratt Developments dropped 5.1 percent to 945p.

Among those engaged in selling property, Hammerson declined by 3 percent to £12.36, British Land was 3.9 percent lower to £13.24, and Liberty International fell by 4.3 percent to £11.04. Estate agents were also lower. Rightmove dropped 5.8 percent to 270p, while Countrywide fell 8.1 percent to 387p.

In the banking sector, mortgage banks declined on the theory that higher interest rates would mean higher house payments and the possibility that more people would not be able to meet their debts. Northern Rock was down by 1.6 percent to £10.88, while HBOS fell 3 percent to 959p and Alliance & Leicester dropped 3.5 percent to 955p.

There were advances on the day, but they were few and far between. PartyGaming added 0.5 percent to 110p on the news that it has bought internet sports betting company Gamebookers. Broadcaster ITV gained 2.7 percent to 104¼p after adding nearly 5 percent on Wednesday. Wm Morrison was 3.5 percent higher to 213p on higher sales. Citigroup raised the supermarket chain’s target share price from 215p to 240p and reconfirmed it’s “buy” recommendation.