The London equities markets were higher on Tuesday, but barely so, with the FTSE 100 adding a bare 0.04 percent to 6,129.2 and the FTSE 250 ending the session 0.6 percent higher to 10,372.2.

Friends Provident helped the 100 with its 6.7 percent gain to 207p after its third quarter report did better than had been anticipated. The life assurer also revealed plans to increase it’s market share.

BSkyB was also higher, adding 1.1 percent to 543½p on positive comments from Cazenove.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Shire was 1.7 percent higher to 956½p on the possibility that it could renegotiate a profit-sharing agreement on a new attention deficit hyperactivity disorder treatment, NRP 104. The current agreement, with US company New River Pharmaceuticals, could give as much as 67 percent of the profits to the US firm. Credit Suisse, however, thinks that they agreement will change before the new drug goes on sale in the US early next year.

In the tobacco sector Imperial Tobacco, which said it is still looking for acquisitions, was 1 percent higher to £18.57. Gallaher, the maker of Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut cigarettes, added 1.5 percent to 890p on the hope that Imperial might bid, although most analysts see an offer for Altadis of Spain as more likely.

Shares in water companies were lower on the sessioni. Kelda Group was 1 percent lower to 866p, while Severn Trent dropped 1.6 percent to £13.96.

The London equities markets were lower on Monday, with the FTSE 100 dropping 0.5 percent to 6,126.8 and the FTSE 250 falling 0.4 percent to 10,308.6.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Shire dropped 2.8 percent on the session to 940p on profit-taking. Shire is up 45 percent on the year so far.

Wolfson Microelectronics dropped 3.9 percent to 292¼p after McCall, Aitken, McKenzie, a new broker, advised its clients to sell after Wolfson’s rally last week. Elsewhere in the semiconductors sector, ARM Holdings fell 3.5 percent to 109p in anticipation of its third quarter report, due later in the day.

Insurers were higher. Aviva added 0.2 percent to 771p and Prudential, which rebuffed an Aviva bid earlier in the year, gained 1.7 percent to 641p on analyst sentiment that it remains vulnerable to a bid after recent weak data. Many believe that Aviva is still interested. Elsewhere, Standard Life gained 1.6 percent to 287½p on media reports that Axa of France could be interested in bidding for the life assurer, even though analysts were not convinced.

Hanson added 2.3 percent to 727½p on ABN Amro’s repeat of its “buy” rating and £10.60 target share price. The building materials group had dropped 4.4 percent on Friday.

The London equities markets were higher on Wednesday on gains in the tobacco and oil sectors. The oil sector was higher after US inventory numbers showed that stockpiles of crude oil, gasoline, and heating oil were all lower last week. The FTSE 100 added 0.5 percent to 6,214.6 percent, while the FTSE 250 gained 0.2 percent to close at 10,425.4, another new record.

Imperial Tobacco Group was 1.6 percent higher to £18.55 ahead of its full-year report, due next week. British American Tobacco, which is scheduled to release its third quarter report later on Wednesday, added 2.5 percent to £14.82 on strong results from Reynolds American. BAT holds 42 percent of Reynolds, which also learned that a US appeals court on the federal level will hear arguments concerning whether a case looking for $200 billion from tobacco companies can be conducted as a class action suit. Meanwhile, Gallaher gained 3.1 percent to 884½p on bids rumors and positive comments.

The pharmaceuticals sector was mixed after UBS upgraded the sector to “overweight”. GlaxoSmithKline added 1.5 percent to £15.11 ahead of the announcement of its third quarter results, but AstraZeneca fell 1.2 percent to £35.92.

Chipmaker Wolfson Microelectronics added 6.4 percent to 287¼p on a perceived vulnerability to bids and on an upgrade to “buy” from Bridgewell Securities. Meanwhile, software maker Misys added 2.4 percent to 205p on the news that an activist group of investors from the US had taken a 4.4 percent stake in the company and on a reiteration of a “buy” recommendation from UBS.

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.

The London equities markets were mixed on Friday and closed out the week lower than they began. The FTSE 100 was 0.01 percent lower on the session and 2.1 points lower on the week to 6,155.2, while the FTSE 250 added 0.1 percent Friday but lost 43.1 points over the week to close at 10,356.5.

Banks were lower, with Lloyds TSB down 1 percent to 562½p, while Northern Rock dropped 1.2 percent to £11.76 on the news that the Office of Fair Trading has recommended that the Payment Protection Insurance market be looked at by the Competition Commission. Both Lloyds and Northern Rock make from 14 to 18 percent of their profits from PPI commissions.

Among other losers, PartyGaming was 7.2 percent lower to 29p on a disappointing trading update, while in the semiconductors sector Wolfson Microelectronics fell to 279p on a profits warning.

Ladbrokes added 2.6 percent to 401¼p and 12 million shares changed hands on rumors that a private equity group would make a bid. Still in the leisure sector, Intercontinental Hotels Group was 2.5 percent higher to 997p.

Amvescap gained 1.6 percent to 614p on positive comments from Deutsche Bank. Meanwhile, media group Pearson was up 0.9 percent to 784½p.

London equities markets were lower on Thursday, mainly on declines in financial sectors. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.2 percent to 6,136.5. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was 18.6 points lower to 10,323.1.

Losers among financial institutions included HSBC, down 0.8 percent to £10.05. Also lower were Northern Rock, which fell 0.9 percent to £11.91 and Bradford & Bingley, 1.5 percent lower to 466p. Alliance & Leicester dropped 1.8 percent to £11.09. Ironically, life assurer Prudential, which sent the sector lower when it blamed its predicted losses in the second half on a loss in its internet bank, Egg, itself added 0.9 percent on the day to 635p.

In the tobacco sector, Imperial Tobacco was 0.4 percent lower to £18.24 on a downgrade from “buy” to “neutral” from Goldman Sachs.

The oil sector was lower even in the face of expected cuts in production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Companies. Royal Dutch Shell dropped 0.6 percent to £18.14, while BP fell 1 percent to 595p.

Vodafone declined 0.6 percent to 128p on news from the European telecommunications sector. Nokia was down on the session, and there were worries that an offer from Telefonica to not charge for incoming calls to customers traveling in Europe could set off a tariff war.

The pharmaceuticals sector saw advances as GlaxoSmithKline added 1 percent to £14.90 and AstraZeneca was 1.5 percent higher to £34.74, its highest share price in nearly five years.

The London equities markets saw gains on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100 adding 0.7 percent to 6,150.4 and the FTSE 250 gaining 1.2 percent on the session to close at 10,342.

The media sector saw gains after upgrades for the sector. BSkyB was 0.9 percent higher to 552½p after JP Morgan said that it could top its target for subscribers for 2010. Elsewhere in the sector, Johnston Press added 2.3 percent to 428¾p, while Trinity Mirror gained 3 percent to 502½p and Daily Mail & General Trust was up 3.1 percent to 657p.

Steelmaker Corus added 1.7 percent to 487p on rumors that CSN, the Brazilian steelmaker was ready to top Tata Steel’s bid, worth 455p per share. The bid rumors were denied after the close of the session.

In the energy sector, British Energy was up 5.2 percent to 474p on rumors that a European utility could bid for the UK government’s 65 percent of the company. On the other hand, National Grid dropped 1.6 percent to 674½p.

The retail sector was also mixed, with Tesco up 1.5 percent to 390p, a record high share price, on speculation that it will raise its earnings forecast. However, clothing retailer Next dropped 1 percent to £18.51 on rumors that it is preparing to issue a profits warning.

London equities markets were mixed on Monday as the FTSE 100 hit a five-year high, gaining 21 points to 6,178.3 but the FTSE 250 dropped 14.9 points to 10,384.1.

Lloyds TSB was 1.3 percent higher to 588½p on rumors that it turned down a bid for its Scottish Widows life assurance unit from Swiss Re and Axa. Some analysts are not optimistic that such a deal would be completed, and Lloyds would not comment on the offer, which was said to have been for £8 billion.

Also seeing a gain on the session was ITV, which added 2 percent to 102¾p on an upgrade from “equal-weight” to “overweight” from Morgan Stanley on the theory that the broadcaster’s shares have reached its low and that better news on advertisements could attract private equity.

PartyGaming dropped 7.2 percent to 32p, a new low share price, after UBS cut its target share price on the online gamer to only 26p. Online gamers have been in a slump since the signing of legislation making most online gambling illegal in the United States.

Among other loses on the session, Cadbury Schweppes was 1.5 percent lower to 549½p on a downgrade from “buy” to “neutral” from Merrill Lynch, while EMI dropped 0.2 percent to 269½p after a warning that the music group expects total revenues to drop by around 3 percent for the half-year that ended September 30.

London equities markets saw gains on Thursday as the FTSE 100 added 0.8 percent to 6,121.3 and the FTSE 250 gained 1 percent to 10,347.3. The 100’s close was its highest since April 21, while the 250 closed at an all-time high.

There were losers on the day, however, some of them taking substantial losses. Carphone Warehouse declined 14 percent to 310p on the announcement by Vodafone that it was awarding an exclusive retail contract in the UK to rival Phones4U. Vodfone dropped 0.2 percent to 130p after the news.

Cairn Energy was also lower on the session, dropping 2.8 percent to £18.35 after dropping as low as £16.73 earlier in the day. The initial drop came after a downgrade from ABN Amro, but investors came to the conclusion that the reduction was not as bad as first thought.

Supermarket chain William Morrison dropped 0.1 percent to 249½p after Brandes cut its holding in the company to 13 percent.

Gainers on the day included the mining sector, which advanced as commodities prices rose. Anglo American was 2.7 percent higher to £23.69, while Vedanta Resources added 3.2 percent to £13.62 and Rio Tinto gained 3.5 percent to £26.65. Anglo American was helped by rumors of bids and stake building.

London equities markets were higher on Tuesday due to advances in a wide variety of sectors. The FTSE 100 added 0.7 percent to 6,072.7, while the FTSE 250 gained 0.9 percent to a new high of 10,244.5.

Asset managers had a good day as Schroders added 4.2 percent to £10.04, Amvescap gained 5.3 percent to 629p, and Man Group was 8.2 percent higher to 478p. Amvescap benefited from the news that the funds under its management have gone up from $428.9 billion in August to $440 billion in September. The September figure was a full $2 billion higher than some estimates.

In the telecommunications sector, Vodafone added 2.6 percent to 120¼p on an upgrade to “outperform” by Bernstein Research, which also set a target share price of 155p for the telecom company.

The oil sector was higher on gains in exploration companies despite another drop in crude oil prices. Premier Oil advanced by 4.5 percent to £11.70, a record high. Dana Petroleum, rumored to be interested in Premier, added 6.4 percent to £12.62. Tullow Oil and JKX Oil & Gas were both 6.1 percent higher, to 391p and 290p respectively.

Plumber and building materials company Wolseley added 3.9 percent to £12.11 on positive comments from JP Morgan concerning US homebuilders. Wolseley gains around 60 percent of its revenues from the US market every year.

Among losers on the session, Shire dropped 4.6 percent to 961p as investors decided that its 15 percent advance on Monday was out of proportion to the news that the drug maker had gained approval for its hyperactivity drug, NRP 104, for use in the United States.