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.

The London equities markets ended both the day Friday and the week mixed as investors worried that interest rates might be about to rise due to an increase in inflation brought on by higher oil prices.

The FTSE 100 closed at 5,228.1 on Friday, down 0.5 percent on the day and 1.6 percent lower for the week. The FTSE 250, however, gained 0.3 percent for the day and 0.5 percent for the week to close at 7,700.5.

Trade volumes were low at only 2 billion shares traded on the day. The slow trade was put to the upcoming bank holiday; traditionally, this is one of the quietest times of year on the exchanges.

With little news of substance, rumors concerning possible takeovers drew extra attention.

On Friday such rumors sent shares in Imperial Tobacco up a bit, rising 0.1 percent to £15.36. All it took to start the rumors were comments from Japan Tobacco that it might be interested in acquiring European rivals.

During the week Centrica, Lloyds TSB, and Rentokil were all the subject of takeover rumors of one sort or another.

Lloyds saw its shares fall in value by 0.1 percent to 457½p on Friday as analysts cast doubt on rumors that US bank Wells Fargo was interested in the bank.

Meanwhile, leisure group Hilton gained 2 percent to 310p as Goldman Sachs raised its pre-tax profits prediction for the company by 2 percent to £420.8 million. Hilton was also helped by an increase in its target price by UBS from 340p to 355p.

In London equities markets on Thursday, the indexes were lower as crude oil prices rose once again.

The FTSE 200 dropped 0.4 percent to 5,255.7 and the FTSE 250 was down by 0.3 percent to 7,679.1 on a volume of 2.5 billion shares traded. Shares in companies that rely heavily on oil products were down.

British Airways fell 1.8 percent to 279 ½ p, while cruise operator Carnival lost 1 percent to £29.40.

Lloyds TSB traded nearly 70 million shares and was up by 4 percent at one point on the day as rumors floated that US bank Wells Fargo would acquire Lloyds, although Wells Fargo has not shown any inclination to acquire European banks. Lloyds ended the day up by 0.9 percent to 458¼p.

Also in the banking sector, the Royal Bank of Scotland lost 1.4 percent to £16.21 after ABN Amro repeated its rating of “reduce” on the bank.

In the leisure sector, Hilton declined by 2.3 percent to 298½p on the news that its Ladbrokes betting shops had sustained a recent series of bad results. In addition, Hilton reported that its hotels have seen falling demand, largely as a result of the July terrorist bombings in London. Still, the company’s interim profits were up.

Steelmaker Corus Group lost 1 percent to 44¼p despite higher interim profits, as it warned that third-quarter profits would be impacted by higher costs for raw materials and lower prices on its products.