The London equities markets closed down slightly for the day on Friday but was up substantially on the week, mostly on the strength of mergers and acquisitions rumors.

The FTSE 100 ended the day down fractionally to 5,326.8, but gained 1.9 percent over the course of the week. The FTSE 250 also dropped fractionally on the day to, to 7,792.3, but was up by 1.2 percent for the week.

The biggest winner was chemicals company BOC, which gained 4.1 percent to £11.28 on the day after it was rumored that it was in talks with German company Linde, while similar talk that it was also talking to BASF were dismissed. Also in the chemicals sector, ICI gained 1.5 percent to 296¼p.

The Germans, specifically E.ON, were also said to be interested in Scottish Power, which gained 2.5 percent to 525p on the talk.

Pilkington gained 5.2 percent to 139½p on continuing talk that Nippon Sheet Glass, which already owns 20 percent of Pilkington, could purchase the rest of the company, but not everyone was buying the rumors, which some analysts say make the rounds on a regular basis.

In the banking sector, Lloyds TSB gained 1.5 percent to 465½p on the assumption that it is the most logical target if any US or European banks are looking to make a purchase in the UK. Elsewhere in the sector, Royal Bank of Scotland was down 0.8 percent to £16.17.

London equities markets were down on the day Thursday, the sixth straight session of losses, in what one analyst called a correction phase.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.4 percent on the day to 4,269.3 and the FTSE 250 fell 0.5 percent to 7,619.8 on a volume of 2.4 billion shares traded.

The oil sector was down and the telecommunications sector was mixed on the day. In the oil sector, BP was down by 2 percent to 624p, Royal Dutch Shell’s B shares fell 2.3 percent to £18.40, and BG Group declined by 2.6 percent to 494 ¼p.

Telecommunications firms also fell substantially, with Cable & Wireless down by 1.3 percent to 154 ¼p on a downgrade to “underweight” by Lehman Brothers. Mobile phone group O2, however, gained 1.5 percent to 149p on the continued perception that it is a target for takeover.

On the side of the gainers, Shire Pharmaceuticals was up 6.5 percent to 681p on talk that it might make some sort of arrangement with Barr Pharmaceuticals of the US, which wants to make its own version of the drug Adderall. Barr was scheduled to take the case to court in the US next year, but speculation is that the two companies have reached some kind of licensing agreement.

Elsewhere in the pharmaceuticals sector, GlaxoSmithKline was up 1.5 percent to £13.38 on an upgrade from JP Morgan.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 gained 0.5 percent to 1,179.08 on Thursday. Daimler Chrysler was up, initially gaining on speculation that its chief executive, Jurgen Schremmp would step down.

Confirmation of those rumors, coupled with better-than-expected profits, had shares up 9 percent at the close to €39.59.

Shares had traded as high as €40.40 earlier in the day, their highest level in almost three years. Fiat was up 4.1 percent to €7.165 on a much better than anticipated quarterly report, in which the Italian carmaker said it had cut losses to €88 million, down from €238 in the same quarter last year.

Alcatel, the telecommunications equipment maker, gained 4.3 percent to €10.09 on the report that its second quarter profits had more than doubled to €196 million and that it was getting ready to pay its first dividend. Despite all of this, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein did not remove its recommendation to sell shares in Fiat.

Syngenta, the Swiss chemicals group that is second in the world in agricultural chemicals, gained 5.4 percent to SF4135.20 after it reported a net profit of 17 percent in the first half of the year. It up most of that gain to demand for its new crop protection products.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.3 percent to 1,173.83 on a group of new quarterly results after having risen to 1,174.86 earlier in the day.

UCB, the Belgian pharmaceutical company, reported positive results from trials of the drug Cimzia in the treatment of Crohn’s disease, a disorder of the digestive tract. This result sent shares in UCB up 7 percent to €44.30.

In the technology sector, STMicroelectronics reported that its second quarter profits were down by 82 percent on weak sales and high restructuring costs. The report sent shares in the company down 2.6 percent to €14.38.

Others in the sector didn’t do any better on the day as Infineon was down 2.9 percent to €8.11 and ASML Holding lost 1.7 percent to €14.38. Nokia had a good day, however, gaining 1.6 percent to €13.10.

European aerospace and defense group EADS reported €1.54 billion in first-half core earnings, a jump of 57 percent. Shares were up 3.3 percent to €27.65. EADS also raised its per share earnings target for the year from €1.36 to €1.5.

Also reporting quarterly earnings was DSM, the Dutch chemicals group. It said its quarterly profits rose 43 percent to €217 million on lower costs, higher margins, and a strategic acquisition. Shares in DSM were up 2.5 percent on the day to €62.35.

The continuing rise in the price of crude oil sent European equities markets lower Monday.

In London, the FTSE 100 fell 0.1 percent to 5,072.0, while the FTSE 250 declined by 0.3 percent to 7,335.7. A low volume of 2.2 billion shares were traded.

Oil companies benefited, as BG Group gained 1.5 percent to 455 ¾p and Shell was up by 0.6 percent to 519 ¾p.

Companies with high oil expenditures, conversely, took losses. ICI declined by 2.9 percent to 266 ½p, while British Airways fell 1.7 percent to 272.25p.

France’s market had the largest retreat of the day in major European equities markets, falling 0.7 percent on the day to 4,193.4.

Notably, Michelin was down 1 percent to €51 as a consequence of safety questions raised on Sunday after all the cars using Michelin tyres pulled out of the US Grand Prix auto race when the company said that it could not guarantee the safety of their tyres for the duration of the race, resulting in only six cars actually running the race.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.05 percent to 1,139.13, with gains in the oil sector offset by profit-taking in some other sectors.

Companies on the Eurofirst benefiting from the rise in oil prices included BP, with a rise of 0.7 percent to 490.5p and Royal Dutch, which advanced by 0.9 percent to €52.