New York equities markets were mixed on the day on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2 percent to 10,473.09 and the S&P 500 gained 0.1 percent to 1,216.89, but the Nasdaq composite lost 0.1 percent to 2,115.40.

Significant gains were seen in the payroll and human services outsourcing sector as payroll company Paychex gained 9.3 percent to $37.25 on an announcement that it has had a 31 percent increase in profits and on a positive forecast for the upcoming quarter.

This good news helped rival Ceridian gain 2.6 percent to $20.74, while Automatic Data Processing rose 2.2 percent to $43.13 and Administaff was up 4 percent to $37.96. Administaff has gained nearly 200 percent so far this year.

Rising oil prices helped out the oil sector as Kerr-McGee was up 1.4 percent to $96.89, although ExxonMobil only gained 0.1 percent to $64.70. Auto-parts manufacturer Delphi lost 3.6 percent to $2.65 as it was in talks with General Motors aimed at restructuring GM so that the carmaker can avoid bankruptcy. GM, meanwhile, gained 0.2 percent to $30.84 on a 3-year agreement with labor unions to derail a possible strike.

Elsewhere, Eastman Kodak fell 0.5 percent to $24.89 on less-than-anticipated profits from digital photography. Apple Computer lost 4.4 percent to $51.80 on reports of defective screens on its new iPod nano.

The New York equities markets were mixed but very close to unchanged on Tuesday even though consumer sentiment was reported to have reached a two-year low in September.

That report was the first indication of what effect the recent bad weather in the Gulf Coast area has had on what consumers in the United States are thinking.

Some analysts were not surprised at the news, and at least one noted that the worst performers this year on the S&P 500 have been those that depend on discretionary spending. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1 percent on the day to 10,456.21, while the Nasdaq composite lost 0.2 percent to 2,116.42 and the S&P ended the day flat at 1,215.66.

Retailer Wal-Mart was down just less than 0.1 percent to $43.10 and Home Depot lost 0.1 percent to $38.39. In the fast food sector, McDonald’s declined 0.8 percent to $33.01.

Reports that new home sales were off in August resulted in losses in the home construction sector. DR Horton lost 0.2 percent to $35.50, Centex was down 0.8 percent to $63.40, KB Home fell 1.9 percent to $72, and Toll Brothers declined by 1.6 percent to $43.28.

In the oil sector, ExxonMobil was flat at $64.62 on a downgrade by JP Morgan. Chevron lost 0.1 percent to $64.18 even though it was the recipient of an upgrade, also by JP Morgan.

DVD-rental chain Movie Gallery was down 13.9 percent on the day to $11.04 after it said it would suspend dividends for the quarter in favor of paying down debt. Rival Blockbuster was also down, by 1.3 percent to $4.51, while Netflix gained 1.4 percent to $24.30.

In the New York equities markets on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down, while the Nasdaq composite and the S&P 500 both gained slightly. Friday’s declines were due to sell-offs ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Rita.

Speculation about decreased refining capacity and economic slowdown was common even though some analysts downplayed concerns about the impact of high energy prices on the economy.

The Dow fell 0.02 percent on the day to 10,419.50, while the Nasdaq gained 0.29 percent to 2,116.84 and the S&P was up 0.06 percent to 1,215.12.

The oil and gasoline sector was up on the week, with Frontier Oil gaining 11.1 percent, Tesoro up 7.5 percent, Sunoco adding 5 percent, and Valero Energy ending the week 2.3 percent higher. Fears of rising energy costs sent several sectors down on the week.

US Steel fell 6.3 percent. In the trucking sector, Swift Transportation lost 6.9 percent. Both Swift and US Steel posted profits warnings.

Some retailers also issued warnings. Avon Products fell 15.9 percent on the week on a reduced earnings forecast for 2005, while fellow cosmetics company Estee Lauder cut its second-half sales estimate and fell 12.5 percent on the week.

Elsewhere, Palm, which makes handheld computers and smart phones, lost 16.5 percent to $29.20 in early trade and was off by 20.3 percent on the week as it warned of lower sales in the upcoming quarter.

Alcoa Aluminum lost 9.2 percent on the week, 6.4 percent of that on Friday morning on a warning that third quarter profits would not reach estimates due to higher costs and lower profits.

On the positive side, Goodyear Tire & Rubber gained 4.4 percent on Friday to $15.66 as it announced a program meant to cut costs by up to $1 billion by 2008.

The New York equities markets were down on Wednesday as crude oil prices rose yet again and as another hurricane threatens the US mainland before the business community has yet been able to assess the full impact of Hurricane Katrina.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1 percent to close at 10,378.03, the Nasdaq composite fell 1.2 percent to 2,106.64, and the S&P 500 fell 0.9 percent to 1,210.20.

The oil sector defined the downward trend of the day. Chevron was up 0.4 percent to $64.27, ExxonMobil rose 0.7 percent to $64.97, Murphy Oil gained 2 percent to $50.92, and ConocoPhillips added 2.2 percent to $70.43. Among refiners, Valero Energy gained 3.6 percent to $113.14, while Sunoco was up 4.5 percent to $78.10.

Another notable gainer on the day was FedEx, which gained 8 percent to $83.15 on an upgraded earnings forecast for the year to May 2006.

Among losers was cosmetics company Avon Products, which fell 11.8 percent to $27 as it became the latest company to blame a cut it its forecast for earnings this year on higher oil costs.

Among department stores, Sears lost 3.7 percent to $115.15 and Wal-Mart dropped 1.7 percent to $42.49.

At least part of this downtrend was due to a warning from the National Retail Federation that holiday sales growth in the US would be only 5 percent this year, compared to last year’s growth of 6.7 percent.

This smaller growth forecast was blamed on falling consumer sentiment. In the airlines sector, Continental Airlines fell 8.6 percent on the day to $9.91 as Houston, one of its hubs, prepared to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Rita.

The New York equities markets were up on Thursday on some good performances by individual stocks as well as on the news that unemployment claims were down last week from the week before.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.8 percent to 10,552.78, the Nasdaq composite added 1.2 percent to 2,141.22, and the S&P 500 was up 0.9 percent to 1,227.86.

Two of six new stocks did very well on the day. WebMD, the online health information portal, gained 39.4 percent to $24.40 in its first day of trade. Fuel distributor Global Partners was up 7.7 percent to $23.70.

In addition, the Nasdaq had a couple of big gainers for the day. Medical information services company IDX Systems saw its shares rise by 23 percent to $43.25 on the news that General Electric will purchase the company for $1.2 billion.

In addition, open-source software provider Red Hat gained 29.9 percent to $21.44 when it reported higher than expected revenues and profits.

But while there were big winners on the day, there were also big losers. Cypress Bioscience, also listed on the Nasdaq, fell 56.5 percent to $5.53 when it was learned that a study it did on a fibromyalgia treatment in association with Forest Laboratories did not meet its planned goals.

Forest Labs were down as well, by 9 percent to $38.50. Another big loser on the day was healthcare services provider Amerigroup, which lost 41.6 percent to $19.81 on a warning that there would be losses in the upcoming quarter, which it blamed on rising health care costs.

In less dramatic movements, PepsiCo gained 2.7 percent on the day to $56.56 on a report of higher than expected revenues.