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.