On the London equities markets on Friday, the FTSE 100 gained 0.3 percent to 5,359.3 and the FTSE 250 was up 0.5 percent to 7,851.1. These results capped a week in which the FTSE 100 added 0.6 percent and the FTSE 250 advanced by 0.8 percent.

Most attention during the week had to do with mergers and acquisitions. Industrial gasses specialist BOC Group and rival Linde of Germany were said to be close to a merger deal, keeping BOC close to record high levels at £11.16.

Retailer Tesco lost 0.7 percent to 329¼p on rumors that it was interested in buying Albertson’s, second only to Wal-Mart in the US. Support services company Rentokil, being pursued by Sir Gerry Robinson, lost 0.2 percent to 163¼p.

Elsewhere, housebuilders were up. McCarthy & Stone, the UK’s biggest builder of retirement homes, gained 5.1 percent to 602p on the announcement that this year’s sales would not be down as much as it had earlier estimated. This news helped Westbury up by 2.6 percent to 450½p, while George Wimpey added 2.6 percent to 425¾p.

In Europe on Thursday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 lost 0.15 percent to 1,203.25, backing off from 38-month highs reached on Wednesday.

Part of the loss came on the sudden end to a rally in the construction sector. Lafarge, the world’s biggest cement producer, announced that it was cutting back its forecasts for the full year and reported first half net profits that had fallen by 18 percent. It blamed tough competition and a drop in demand in Germany for the disappointing results. Lafarge lost 7.4 percent on the day to €72, a decline which erased nearly all its gains on the year.

Elsewhere in the sector things were a bit better, as Swiss company Holcim gained 0.2 percent to SFr82.95, while Spanish builder Sacyr Vallehermoso advanced 2.7 percent to €22.58 on the announcement that it wants to refinance around €1.3 billion in debt by the end of the year. Despite these gains, the construction sub-index fell by 1.4 percent on the day.

There were declines despite good earnings reports in other sectors. Brewer Inbev lost 2 percent to €31.40 in spite of a significant jump in first-half earnings when it warned that declining beer sales in western Europe could mean job cuts and brewery closures in that region.

Opthalmic lens manufacturer Essilor International had largely the same experience, losing 2.2 percent to €64.35 even though it saw a 19 percent rise in first-half net profits, better than expected, when it warned that higher operating costs would mean less profits in the second half of the year. And French retailer PPR lost 0.1 percent to close the session at €87.75 despite a first half performance by its luxury goods division that led to a better-than-expected first half performance.

It was a losing day on Wall Street on Friday, but the major indices managed to post gains on the week, remarkable in a week that saw the worst hurricane to ever hit the US coast and a number of economic reports that were far from positive.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.12 percent on the day to 10,447.37, although it gained 0.4 percent on the week. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq composite lost 0.32 percent for the day to close at 2,141.07, a gain of 1 percent on the week, and the S&P 500 was down 0.29 percent on the day but up 1.1 percent on the week to close Friday’s session at 1,218.02.

The oil sector made significant gains as prices rose due to closures of oil platforms and refineries as well as predictions of supply shortages. Construction companies and their materials suppliers also saw gains as it became clear that extensive rebuilding in the hurricane zone would be necessary.

The S&P 500 oil and gas refiners’ index gained 17.8 percent on the week. In individual oil stocks, ExxonMobil was down 1.3 percent on Friday but gained 4.3 percent on the week to $60.87, Sunoco fell 1.5 percent on Friday but was up 18 percent on the week, and Valero Energy gained 0.4 percent on the day and 16.6 percent on the week to $109.96.

In the construction sector, Halliburton was up 8.6 percent on the week, even though it lost 1.3 percent to close at $62.35. Retailers had a bad week, as the S&P 500 apparel retailers index fell 3.7 percent on the week and the department store index lost 4.9 percent.

Leisure sectors also saw declines, as the S&P casino index was down 5.1 percent and the hotels index lost 4.1 percent, both on concerns of the short and long-term effects of Katrina on sector business in the Southeast US.

In Europe on Friday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 saw losses on the day, falling by 0.1 percent to 1,183.95, but it gained 1.7 percent on the week.

Oil and construction were higher for the week, mainly in consideration of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast region of the United States.

Carmakers and reinsures saw losses for the week, however. The oil sector as a whole gained 4.2 percent to 1,438.33, with Finnish refiner Neste Oil up 13.3 percent to €27.90 on wider margins.

The construction sector was up 1.9 percent as it became clear that the storm-ravaged region will require extensive rebuilding after it is drained of water.

Reinsurers suffered as it became clear how much money in claims they would have to pay out to victims of Katrina. Munich Re and Swiss Re each estimated that their payouts could be in the neighborhood of $500 million. Munich Re lost 1.3 percent on the week to €90.02, while Swiss Re was down 1.4 percent on the day and lost 2.7 percent for the week to €79.85.

Zurich Financial SVS declined by 2.3 on the week to SFr215.60. Hannover Re reduced its profits estimate for the year by one-third.

Meanwhile, in the automobile manufacturing sector, high gasoline prices and a generally weaker dollar sent Porsche down 2 percent to €625.85, while DaimlerChrysler lost 3.2 percent to €40.60.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 saw gains for the second straight day on Thursday, rising by 0.7 percent to 1,185.83.

Builders were the big winners of the day as it become clear just how much reconstruction will be necessary on the Gulf Coast of the United States in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and shares in insurers and reinsures moved little as it was still unclear exactly how much that rebuilding will cost.

Builders and building materials suppliers in Europe benefited from the impression that US companies will be unable to provide all the materials needed for the recovery effort. The world’s biggest cement maker, Lafarge, gained 2.9 percent to €77.20.

Lafarge already does over half of its business in the US. Elsewhere in the sector, Holcim was up 1 percent to SFr82. Spanish builder ACS added 3 percent to €25.08 on a strong report of first-half profits due to its participation in the Spanish building boom and expansion into industrial services.

Insurers and reinsures were mixed as analysts said that any estimates of the monetary damages caused by Katrina were sheer speculation, considering that many areas were still inaccessible.

Swiss Re was up by 0.3 percent to SFr81 and Munich Re gained 0.1 percent to €90.90, but Hannover Re lost 1 percent to €28.82. The biggest loser of the day was Deutsche Post, which dropped 3.9 on the day to €19.65 amid heavy trading after it was revealed that it had made a bid to purchase Exel, the British logistics group.

Another 1995 spinoff from the former Bundespost, Deutsche Postbank saw an advance on the day, adding 3.5 percent to €46.01 as JP Morgan raised its target price to €40 per share from €32.

In Europe on Tuesday, insurers saw slight gains on hopes that the damage from Hurricane Katrina would not be as extensive and as costly as feared, while oil companies saw the value of their stocks rise with the gains in crude oil prices.

Meanwhile, construction companies saw mixed results. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down by 0.04 percent to 1,166.94. In the insurance sector, reinsurer Munich Re put its estimate of Katrina’s damage at between $15 billion and $20 billion in insured loss, and said that it did not see the hurricane’s effects as any reason to alter its 2005 earnings forecast. Munich Re gained 0.3 percent to €91. Meanwhile, Hannover Re gained 0.7 percent to €29.90.

In the oil and gas sector, prices that hit new record highs outweighed the known and possible damage to production facilities in the area affected by Katrina to send share prices higher. Repsol YPF was up 0.4 percent to €23.37, while Total gained 0.6 percent to €207.80 and Royal Dutch Shell added 1 percent to €25.99.

In the construction sector, Irish building materials group CRH dropped 2.8 percent to €21.65 despite having reported a 20 percent rise in pre-tax profits. On the other hand, Spanish builders did better. Acciona saw a 2.5 percent gain to €89.40 on its report that first-half profits were up by 37 percent, while ACS, Spain’s largest construction group, was up 1.7 percent to €24.10 in anticipation of the release of its first-half results on Wednesday.

Equities markets in the eurozone were buoyed by advances in the oil and gas sectors as crude oil prices were up again and Credit Suisse First Boston and Merrill Lynch both boosted their outlook for oil stocks.

Total was up 2.2 percent to €202.30, Repsol YPF gained 2.1 percent to €22.41, and Eni advanced by 2.2 percent to €22.46. Neste Oil was up 2.2 percent to €23.50, Statoil rose by 2.1 percent to NKr143.50, and Norsk Hydro advanced to NKr638, up 4.2 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 gained 0.6 percent on the day to 1,157.21, a new 3-year high. Meanwhile in London, the FTSE 100 gained 0.8 percent to 5,229.6, the fourth day in a row that the index reached a new 3-year high.

The FTSE 250 gained 1.2 percent to reach an all-time high of 7,487.9. Trade was strong at 3.9 billion shares traded.

At least part of the gains in London came after the announcement that the International Olympic Committee had awarded the 2012 Olympic Games to London. Companies from many sectors stand to benefit from the games.

Among those seeing advances today were WS Atkins, the UK’s biggest engineering consultancy, which gained 4.8 percent to 716p. Senco advanced by 2.1 percent to 259 ¼p, Amec rose 0.9 percent to 331p, and Carillion was up 5 percent to 284 p.

Other gainers included Balfour Beatty, which gained 5.2 percent to 347.25p, building materials group Hanson, which advanced 2.1 percent to 545 ½p, and Severfield-Rowen, which rose 9 percent to 707p. Caterer Compass Group was up 2.42 percent to 244p, while Workspace gained 4.3 percent to 248 ¾p.