London equities markets were up on Tuesday even though shares in online gaming companies fell sharply, as utilities saw gains on the strength of a possible bid for Scottish Power. The FTSE 100 gained 0.4 percent to 5,359.2 and the FTSE 250 was up 0.1 percent to 7,795.4.

The online gaming stocks were down amid indications that the popularity of online poker is beginning to slow as recruitment of new players is down and yields per player are lower. Party Gaming was down 33 percent to 105p and BetOnSports lost 13.8 percent to 144p.

Money transfer groups that rely on online gaming for their business were also down. NeTeller fell by 6.9 percent to 841½p, while FireOne was down 11.3 percent to 430p. In addition, Sportingbet, currently in negotiations to merge with Empire Online, declined by 16.2 percent to 311p. The exception in the sector was ubet2win, which added 11.8 percent to 7.12p on the news that it had signed a contract with Victor Chandler International.

Advances in the utilities sector were triggered by a rumored bid for Scottish Power by German company Eon, which raised expectations for the possibility of other mergers. Centrica, which owns British Gas, gained 3.6 percent to 263p.

Water company Kelda was up 2.7 percent to 723½p. Scottish Power and National Grid each added 2.2 percent, to 555¾p and 561p respectively. Electricity groups were also up. International Power gained 2.5 percent to 239½p, while Scottish & Southern Energy was up 1.5 percent to £10.30.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 lost 0.3 percent to 1,188.70 on Tuesday as the telecommunications sector was mostly down and oil sector had a negative day.

French media group Vivendi Universal gained 1 percent to €26.12 on the news that its Cegatel telecommunications unit has been given provisional permission to merge with its rival Neuf Telecom by the French finance ministry.

Elsewhere in the sector, Deutsche Telekom lost 1.4 percent to €15.77 and KPN was down 1.3 percent to €7.34 on the announcement that they are no longer talking about a merger with UK mobile company O2. France Telecom declined by 0.5 percent to €25.15 even though it kept its “outperform” rating from CSFB.

In the oil sector, losses were primarily due to slight declines in crude oil prices. Royal Dutch Shell was down 1.1 percent to €26.80, Eni lost 1.4 percent to €23.86, and Total declined by 1.6 percent to €208.80. Neste Oil was down 3.3 percent to €23.80, Statoil lost 2.3 percent to NKr49.50, and Norsk Hydro fell 1.8 percent to NKr646.

Despite these losses, the oil and gas sector as a while is still 30 percent higher than it was a the beginning of the year. Despite climbing oil prices, Finair gained 8.5 percent on the day to €8.08. Finair is up more than 40 percent since January.

New York equities markets were up on Monday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq composite, and the S&P 500 all saw gains by the end of the day.

The Dow ended the day up 0.3 percent to 10,634.38, while the Nasdaq was up 0.5 percent to close at 2,167.04 and the S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent to 1,233.87. Oil prices that fell slightly helped the gains.

In the media sector, there were rumors that Dow Jones, the owner of the Wall Street Journal, might be for sale. Shares in Dow Jones were up by as much as 15 percent during the day, but closed lower than that but at a gain for the day of 11 percent to $41.14. Time Warner added 1.4 percent to $18.50 on the news that four investors are planning to pressure the company’s board of directors to buy back $20 billion in stock and spin off its cable business.

In the airlines sector, unconfirmed reports in the New York Times that Delta Air Lines was arranging financing for bankruptcy protection sent the air carrier’s stocks plummeting 13.7 percent.

The New York equities markets ended the day higher on Thursday despite crude oil prices that hit record levels Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day ahead by 0.9 percent at 10,685.89, the Nasdaq composite gained 0.8 percent to 2,174.55, and the S&P 500 was up 0.7 percent at 1,237.81.

The rise in oil prices didn’t help Delta Air Lines, which has been trying to avoid entering bankruptcy. Despite announcing that it will add larger aircraft on it’s New York to Boston and Washington shuttle routes, Delta lost 6.8 percent on the day to $1.79 amid expectations that it will file for bankruptcy soon.

Tivo fell 6.2 percent to $5.62 on the announcement by DirecTV Group that it will quit marketing Tivo digital video recorders this year and replace them with alternate technology from News Corp, which owns 34 percent of DirecTV. DirecTV’s shares fell slightly on the news, to $16.18.

News Corp itself gained 3.4 percent on the day to $18.03 after it announced a jump of 67 percent in its quarterly profits. Yahoo gained 2.2 percent to $34.94 after it said it would pay $1 billion in cash and trade its operations in China in exchange for 40 percent of Alibaba.com, the second-biggest internet auctioneer in China.

Semiconductor manufacturer Intel dropped 0.2 percent on a downgrade to “in-line” by Goldman Sachs.

The London equities markets closed in positive territory on Wednesday as the FTSE 100 gained 0.3 percent to 5,377.5 and the FTSE 250 was up 0.4 percent to 7,734.6 on a volume of 2.8 billion shares traded.

Life assurers saw advances in share value. South Africa-based life assurers Old Mutual gained 2.5 percent to 134p on better-than expected first half results and a forecast that its strong performance will last through the year.

Aviv was up as well, by 2.2 percent to 657p, ahead of its first-half report and on confirmation that Lord Sharman was coming aboard as its new chairman.

Mobile phone company Vodafone gained 0.3 percent on the day to 147p on an assessment by Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein that investors were not taking note of rising valuations of Japanese companies and the improvement in Vodafone’s operations in Japan.

Banks didn’t do as well, as Lloyds TSB lost 1.8 percent to 474p, Royal Bank of Scotland dropped 0.9 percent to £16.05, and HBOS was down 0.7 percent to 903 ½p.

Other FTSE 100 decliners included oil company BP, which lost 0.8 percent to 653 ½p, pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which was down by 0.7 percent to £25.90, and mining company Rio Tinto, which dropped 0.8 percent to £20.32.

Record label EMI, however, gained 3 percent to 254 ¼p on the news that it is in discussions to purchase New York-based independent label Wind-Up Records, which records Creed and Evanescence. The proposed purchase prices is said to be $125 million.

The New York equities markets were down on Wednesday on soaring crude oil prices, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike on Tuesday, and on stocks that lost from gains in Tuesday’s trade.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 0.2 percent to 10,594.49, the Nasdaq composite was down 0.8 percent to 2,157.81, and the S&P 500 lost 0.2 percent to 1,229.18.

Among gainers Tuesday that lost share value on Wednesday were Cisco Systems and Walt Disney. Cisco Systems was down 6.9 percent to $18.25, while Walt Disney declined by 2.6 percent to $25.47.

Analysts think that more interest rate hikes and continuing gains in crude oil prices will tend to drag down the equities markets.

One analyst was quoted as saying that as higher crude oil prices translate into higher prices to consumers, inflation will rise and the markets will feel that rise.

Among others gainers and losers on the day, mortgage group Fannie Mae lost 3.8 percent to $52.70 when it announced that it had missed its deadline to file its quarterly earnings report with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Radio stations owner Clear Channel gained 0.5 percent to $33.92 on the news that it would spin off its billboard advertising business in an initial public offering that could be worth as much as $350 million. It also said that it would spin off its live entertainment business.

Meanwhile, Maytag gained 1.9 percent to $19 and Whirlpool lost 1.8 percent to $81.53 when Whirlpool again raised its bid for Maytag, by another $1 to $21 per share.

Investors on the New York equities markets didn’t seem bothered by the rise in interest rates introduced by the Federal Reserve on Tuesday.

This attitude, along with slightly lower crude oil prices and a report that labor costs in the US were being held to reasonable levels, helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq composite, and the S&P 500 to gains on the day.

The Dow closed up by 0.8 percent to 10, 615.67, the Nasdaq added 0.4 percent to 2,174.19, and the S&P was up 0.7 percent to 1,231.39.

Delta Air Lines had a bad day when Merrill Lynch issued a warning that climbing oil prices could be the factor that tips Delta into bankruptcy. Delta lost 12.6 percent on the day to close at $1.95.

Video and games rental company Blockbuster didn’t have an especially good day either after it reported quarterly losses that more than doubled expectations after trying to challenge competitor Netflix in the online-order DVD rental market. Blockbuster fell 11.5 percent on the day to $7.09, 75 percent lower than its highest price of $29.51, reached in May 2002. Netflix, meanwhile, saw a gain of 1.9 percent on the day to $21.34.

Cisco Systems, the internet equipment maker, did better, gaining 1.9 percent to $19.61 on anticipation of a good quarterly report which was due to be released after the close of trade.

Walt Disney, which was also set to report after trade closed on Tuesday, was up by 2.9 percent to $26.14.

In Japan on Monday, the Nikkei 225 closed up 0.1 percent to 11,778.98 even though it was down by 1 percent at the end of morning trading, and the Topix ended the day 0.2 percent higher at 1,191.90 after being down by 0.9 percent tat the end of the morning.

Shares were down in the morning on uncertainty about what might happen if the upper house of parliament rejected Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s post office privatization proposal.

However, as the losing outcome became clear and new elections were called, most analysts said they were convinced that not only would new elections not disturb Japan’s economy recovery, but that a change might actually be a positive thing for the economy.

It was especially thought that political parties trying to gain more political power might be reluctant to take fiscal tightening measures, something the present government has wished to impose.

Telemarketer Mishi Moshi Hotline, which was up by 4.2 percent on the day to ¥11,560, particularly stands to gain from a political campaign season as it provides public opinion poll services for the media. It also recently released it quarterly report, which showed an increase of 31 percent in net profits.

Consumer Credit company Credit Saison gained 5.9 percent to ¥3,950 on the news that it had a quarterly rise in net profits of 50 percent.

Mitsui Engineering Shipbuilding, however, was down by 4.5 percent to ¥212 after a report of quarterly losses four times higher than the same quarter in 2004 as well as a prediction of net losses in the six months ending in September due to high costs for materials.

The Tokyo equities markets were down again on Friday as investors worried about the consequences of a defeat for the prime minister’s plan to privatize the post office.

If the upper house of parliament does not approve the legislation, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has promised to dissolve parliament and call elections.

The Nikkei 225 was down 0.98 percent to 11,766.48, while the Topix index lost 1.24 percent to 1,189.19. All 33 sectors of the Tokyo Stock Exchange were down on the day.

Banks were lower, with Mizuho Financial Group down 1.2 percent to ¥502,000, MTFG lost 1.2 percent to ¥943,000, and UFJ dropped 0.9 percent to ¥580,000.

Besides the uncertainty over the privatization vote, MTFG and UFJ were also affected by a report that that the two banks are delaying plans for a merger, a rumor that both banks denied.

Automobile manufacturers also saw major losses as Honda, Nissan, and Toyota each lost 1.9 percent of the value of their shares. Honda stood at ¥5,700, Nissan declined to ¥1,145, and Toyota fell to ¥4,170.

Not all individual shares were down, however. Condominium developer Haseko gained 9.3 percent to ¥258 on the announcement that it will buy back ¥142.8 billion in preferred shares from three banks.

Fuji Television gained 1.4 percent to ¥221,000 when it upped its profit estimate for the full year by 7 percent due to TV shopping and advertising revenues that are higher than expected. Fuji is Japan’s biggest private broadcaster.

The stock markets in New York ended the day mixed as crude oil prices rode a roller coaster, more quarterly results rolled in, and one company shook everything up.

The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 0.1 percent to 10,697.59 and the S&P 500 also was up 0.1 percent to 1,245.03, but the Nasdaq composite lost 0.1 percent to 2,216.81.

The shake-up came as German company Adidas agreed to purchase Reebok, which sent shares in Reebok up by 30 percent to $57.14. When joined the two companies will form the world’s second-largest sporting goods company, smaller than only Nike. Nike gained 1.3 percent to $86.92 on the news.

The airline sector did not do nearly as well, with the Amex airline index falling 1.5 percent to close at 50.83. Delta Airlines fell 8.3 percent to $2.32, its lowest share value in 43 years, as investors worried that the carrier was getting closer to bankruptcy. Northwest Airlines declined nearly 8.6 percent to $4.37 on the news that union representatives had walked out on contract negotiations. Skywest lost 1.3 percent to $20.82.

Time Warner lost 0.9 percent to $17.27 on a quarterly report that showed its quarterly earnings falling on a $321 million loss that came in the wake of a $2.5 billion settlement in a securities fraud case filed by shareholders.

In New York on Tuesday, equities markets were up, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.6 percent to 10,683.74, while the Nasdaq composite gained over 1 percent to 2,218.15 and the S&P 500 added 1,244.08.

Analysts warned investors not to get too excited about recent gains, however, because statistically speaking August and September are the worst performing months for US markets.

On the announcement that CNOOC had dropped its bid for Unocal due to political factors, shares in Chevron gained 1.9 percent to $59.56 and Unocal was up 0.3 percent to $64.53.

Among automobile manufacturers, Ford and DaimlerChrysler were up and General Motors was down after all three companies showed improvements in sales in the quarter on large discounts to car buyers. Ford gained 0.3 percent to $10.88, DaimlerChrysler was up 2.8 percent to $50.75, while GM lost 0.9 percent to $36.53.

The media sector was up as a whole by 0.8 percent on the day. Cable tv and internet provider Comcast reported that its profits were up 62 percent in the quarter even though cable and internet subscriptions were down. Shares in Comcast were up 1.3 percent on the day to $31.00. Time Warner and Viacom will report their quarterly earnings later in the week.

In London on Wednesday, the FTSE 100 gained 0.1 percent to 5,263.6, while the FTSE 250 was up 0.8 percent to 7,554.3 on a volume of 3.5 billion shares traded.

Shire Pharmaceuticals gained 1.7 percent to 655p on approval of its acquisition of Transkaryotic Therapies by shareholders of both companies.

Water company Kelda gained 2.1 percent to 710p as it was elevated to the FTSE 100 and upgraded to “buy” by Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, which called Kelda’s efficiency and service the best in the sector. Dresdner also upgraded several other smaller water companies, which helped them see gains on the day as well. Northumbrian Water gained 2.6 percent to 220 ¼p, Pennon was up 1.1 percent to £10.57, and United Utilities added 0.7 percent to 638 ½p.

Reuters was up 1.5 percent to 387 ½p as ABN Amra upgraded the company to “buy” and advised investors to look at more than recent higher restructuring costs.

Tour operator MyTravel group lost 3 percent to 195p on a warning that it had already lost £2 million in cancellations and reparations due to disruptions caused by hurricanes and bombings.

The approach of another tropical storm send oil prices up, forcing US equities markets down early on Tuesday.

By the close, however, the markets were mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down but the S&P and Nasdaq indexes up.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6 percent to close at 10,513.89, the S&P 500 had gained 0.23 percent to 1,222.21, and the Nasdaq composite advanced 0.36 percent to 2,143.15.

PepsiCo gained 1.9 percent to $54.91 on the news that quarterly profits were up more than expected.

Biotechnology company Genentech gained 1 percent to $84.96, also on news of better-than-expected quarterly results. Walt Disney gained 1.8 percent to $25.62 amid reports that it will sell its radio stations.