At midday on Friday, the New York equities markets were looking at a losing week, sent down primarily by news from Microsoft. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2 percent on the week to 11,372.1 by the middle of the session, after having hit a six-year high earlier in the day. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, had accumulated a loss for the week of 0.7 percent to 2,326.28, while the S&P 500 was flat at 1,311.92.

Microsoft dropped 11 percent during the morning on Friday, bringing the week’s loss to 10.6 percent with its share price at $24.27. This loss came despite the fact that its quarterly report shoed a rise in profits of 16 percent, as the company also announced that earnings would be lower than anticipated in the second half of the year due to increased investments.

Banks were up on the week, with the S&P banking index seeing a gain of 2.5 percent over the five sessions.

Bank of America added 6.4 percent over the week to $49.88, its highest share price ever, after it said that it could spend as much as $12 billion in the next year and a half in a stock buyback involving as many as 20 million shares.

Elsewhere in the sector, Citigroup was up 3.5 percent on the week to $49.69. The gains came on an upgrade from Piper Jaffray, which raised its recommendation on the bank from “market perform” to “outperform” and upped its target share price from $52 to $55.

Earnings reports trumped fears of further interest rate hikes to send Wall Street higher at midday on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up to 11,352.59, a jump of nearly 70 points, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 2.17 points to 2,332.47 and the S&P 500 gained 4.96 points to 1,306.70. The interest rate concerns came after durable goods orders were up more than had been expected and new home sales increased.

Office Depot added 7 percent to $40.87, a record high, on first quarter sales that were up 3 percent, which put earnings per share at 48 cents, 4 cents per share higher than had been forecast.

Brewer Anheuser-Busch also beat earnings estimates in the quarter, by 8 cents per share to 64 cents per share. In consequence, the brewer gained 4.8 percent on the day to $44.66.

On the down side of the earnings reports, Sprint-Nextel said that it had earnings per share of 36 cents per share in the quarter, 2 cents less than had been expected. The telecommunications company was down 3.2 percent to $24.24.

Elsewhere in the sector, however, American Tower, which leases communications tower space to mobile phone companies, reported sales up 74 percent compared to the same period last year. The report sent its shares up by 5.1 percent to $34.87.

Amazon, the online retailer, dropped 0.4 percent to $35.69. While its sales were up 20 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, investments and shipping costs sent profits down by 34 percent, which was about where analysts predicted it would be.

With earnings reports expected from 171 of the S&P 500’s listed companies this week, the New York equities markets were down at midday on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 percent to 11,331.52, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.5 percent to 2,331.13 and the S&P declined by 0.4 percent to 1,306.13.

In earnings news, Xerox reported profits down a disappointing 4.8 percent in the first quarter on slow sales. In response, its share fell 5.5 percent to $13.99. On the other hand, Caterpillar reported a much better than expected 48 percent rise in earnings, which sent shares up 1.6 percent to $79.12 early in the day. And, while American Express reported first quarter profits were up by 18 percent and it had added 1.5 million new cardholders, its shares still dropped 1.2 percent to $51.60.

So far this quarter, according to one analyst, 69 percent of companies reporting so far have had results above what had been predicted, while 19 percent have reported earnings at expected levels, and just 13 percent have come in below estimates.

Elsewhere, mergers and acquisitions were in the news as Washington Mutual said it had agreed to purchase Commercial Capital. The deal, worth $983 million, will give Washington Mutual more of a presence in the state of California. The news sent Commercial Capital’s shares up 10.7 percent to $15.67, but Washington Mutual dropped 1.6 percent to $44.31.

The New York equities markets ended the week mixed as the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.04 percent to 11,347.45, but the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.83 percent to 2,342.86 and the S&P 500 dropped 0.01 percent to 1,311.28.

Quarterly earnings reports helped a number of companies during the week. 3M, which makes Post-It notes, was up 5 percent to $85.02 this week on a report of higher earnings. In the internet search engine sector, Yahoo added 6.9 percent during the week to $33.27 even though it’s earnings were down from the same quarter last year, when revenues and adjusted earnings were up to predictions. UBS raised Yahoo’s target share price from $39 to $42.

Google, meanwhile added 10 percent over the week to $442.56 after it reported that revenues had grown by 100 percent. This earned it several target share price hikes and Merrill Lynch upgraded the search engine from “neutral” to “buy”.

Still in internet-related companies, Ebay dropped 9.3 percent on the week to $35 after it did not improve its forecast for 2006.

Computer-maker Dell dropped 4 percent on Friday and 7.5 percent during the week to $27.15 on a downgrade from “buy” to “sell” from Citigroup.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, General Motors was up 8 percent on the week to $22.03 when it reported fewer losses in the quarter than had been expected, indicating to some analysts that it is recovering from recent troubles. Others, however, said that while production had increased, GM’s market share was declining. Elsewhere in the sector, Ford Motor dropped 6.3 percent on Friday on the report of a $1.2 billion loss in the first quarter. On the week, however, Ford added 1.4 percent and closed the week at $7.45.

At midday on Thursday in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up to its highest level in six years, while the S&P was up only slightly and the Nasdaq Composite had fallen. The Dow was up 0.6 percent to 11,341.61, the S&P had risen 0.1 percent to 1,311.17, and the Nasdaq was down 0.5 percent to 2,359.64.

General Motors was up 9.4 percent to $22.51 on indications that it was beginning to recover from its recent problems. It’s first quarter loss of $323 million was much better than had been predicted, and an analyst at Credit Suisse said that without special expenditures and healthcare costs, GM would have actually posted a small profit for the quarter. Ford Motor, helped by General Motors’ advance, gained 3.4 percent to $7.99.

A sell-off of Ebay stock led to a drop on the day of 8.1 percent to $37.09, hurt the Nasdaq. Ebay’s decline came after it said sales and profits will be lower than had been expected in 2006. However, Nasdaq’s decline was limited by Apple’s advance of 3.4 percent on the day to $69.17. The gain came on a second-quarter report that showed revenue up by 41 percent. Also in computer-related businesses, chipmaker Intel was up 0.2 percent to $19.60 on a better-than-expected first quarter report.

The banking sector was mixed. Bank of America added 1 percent to $46.53 after a report that first-quarter profits were up by 14 percent. Bank of New York, however, was down 2.6 percent to $34.77 even though it reported an 11-percent rise in net income in the first quarter.

Merck gained 1.9 percent to $35.04. The pharmaceutical company said that its quarterly profits were up by 11 percent, more than had been expected.

The New York equities markets were up on Wednesday as more companies turned in strong quarterly earnings reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day 0.1 percent higher to 11,278.77, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6 percent to 2,370.88 and the S&P 500 added 0.2 percent to 1,309.93.

Internet search engines advanced on the day. Despite reporting lower earnings than last year, Yahoo gained 7.2 percent to $33.54 as revenues and adjusted earnings reached predicted levels. Yahoo’s gains in turn helped Google up 1.6 percent to $410.50 ahead of its quarterly earnings report.

In the semiconductor sector, Texas Instruments reported second-quarter earnings that were well above forecasts, adding 1.3 percent to $34.45 after a gain of 3.8 percent on Tuesday. Meanwhile, United Technologies was up 6.6 percent to $62.80 on an upgrade from “netural” to “buy” from Merrill Lynch.

Also in quarterly reports, JP Morgan Chase said that its first quarter net income was up by 36 percent. However, the report was good for only an 0.1 percent rise in share price, to $42.62.

Mobile phone maker Motorola dropped 6.6 percent to $22.49 eve though strong sales pushed its market share up by 5 percent.

Higher oil prices and bond yields sent the New York equities markets lower on Monday after a long holiday weekend. At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped 0.5 percent to 11,085.54. The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.35 percent to 2,317.93, while the S&P 500 had declined by 0.26 percent to 1,286.49. The declines came despite good quarterly reports from the financial services sector .

Citigroup said that its profits in the fourth quarter were up 4 percent to $5.64 billion, sending its shares 0.5 percent higher by mid-session to $48.29. Wachovia reported profits that were 7.4 percent higher in its first quarter but this did not stop its share price from declining by 24 cents to $55.61. Much higher quarterly earnings, to the tune of a 68 percent jump, also did not prevent shares in Charles Schwab from losing 31 cents to $17.28.

Also among those companies issuing quarterly reports, industrial goods maker Eaton added 2.2 percent to $76.25 on a strong showing.

Stock exchanges were mixed, with the NYSE Group, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, dropped 2 percent to $73.55 after last week’s disclosure that it is in talks with companies it is interested in acquiring. Nasdaq, however, added 3 percent to $43.52 after its purchase of nearly 15 percent of the London Stock Exchange last week.

Digital video recorder manufacturer TiVo was up 16 percent to $9.14.

New data on retail sales in the United States along with positive corporate earnings reports helped the New York equities markets to midday gains despite the news that yields on ten-year US Treasury bonds had gone above 5 percent for the first time in almost four years.

At mid-session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.3 percent to 11,158.14. The Nasdaq Composite had advanced by 0.8 percent to 2,332.29, while the S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent to 1,290.38.

General Electric reported that its profits were up 14 percent in the first quarter and it reiterated its full-year guidance for 2006, but its shares dropped 1.5 percent to $33.95. Still, Goldman Sachs kept its rating of GE at “outperform”.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector index added 1.3 percent as chipmakers supported the Nasdaq. Lam Research, which makes semiconductor processing equipment, added 6.7 percent to $47.69 on a 45 percent rise in earnings in its third quarter. Intel gained 2.4 percent to $19.58 ahead of an earnings report due next week.

Bucking the trend in the sector, Advanced Micro Devices dropped 7.8 percent to $32.66 despite earnings that were better than expected in the first quarter. A weak second-quarter guidance led Sanford C. Bernstein to downgrade the company’s shares.

Flash-memory products maker SanDisk added 4.2 percent to $61.99 when the S&P said it will install the company in its index in place of Chiron Corp.

At midday on Wednesday, the New York equities markets had made back some of Tuesday’s losses, helped out by good news on the trade deficit and out of several corporations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 11,123.24 by mid-session, a gain of 0.3 percent, and the S&P 500 had gained 0.1 percent to 1,287.15. The Nasdaq Composite, however, held steady at 2,310.07.

In the telecommunications sector, Motorola added 1.3 percent to $23.87 on an upgrade from Bear Stearns on the theory that the company would continue to increase its share of the market because of demand for its thin handsets.

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing was up 3.7 percent to $83.53 on a deal to sell 80 of its 737 jets to China. This was Boeing’s largest one-day increase in two months.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, General Motors added 2.2 percent to $19.65, also on news related to China. GM said that sales of it’s Chevrolet line in China will increase by at least 50 percent this year. Ford Motor also saw an advance on the day, by 1 percent to $7.24.

In the retail sector, Circuit City added 2.3 percent to $25.18 after is said that its fourth-quarter profits were up by 65 percent on Christmas sales of digital music players and flat-panel televisions.

Biotechnology group Genentech was down 1.1 percent to $80.84 despite a 48 percent rise in profits in the first quarter after ales of its drug Rituzan did not meet expectations.

Bosch & Lomb dropped 4.7 percent to $46.75, seeing declines for the second day in a row after having to withdraw its contact lens solution due to reports that some users had contracted fungal infections.

By mid-session on Tuesday, the New York equities markets were lower, at least partially due to crude oil prices that were up yet again. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped 0.4 percent by midday to 11,095.95. The Nasdaq, hurt by lower prices in the semiconductors sector, had declined by 1 percent to 2,310.05. The S&P 500 was down 0.7 percent to 1,287.05.

The oil sector was higher on the surge in crude oil prices, with ConocoPhillips adding 1.4 percent to $67.60.

Higher commodities prices also helped aluminium producer Alcoa. The rise in metals prices were instrumental in a much higher than predicted 50 percent increase in profits in the first quarter. Also helping to send shares in Alcoa up 6.1 percent on the day to $34.83 were target share price increases for the company from Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, and Lehman brothers. Alcoa’s success also helped its rival, Alcan, to gain 1.7 percent to $51.36.

While the semiconductor sector as a whole was down 1.4 percent on the Amex, Micron Technology, the largest chipmaker in the US, added 1.7 percent to $15.16 after it released a better than expected quarterly earnings report.

Among banks, Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs both saw losses on the day after employees from both banks were charged by federal prosecutors with insider trading. Merrill Lynch dropped 1.1 percent to $78.06 and Goldman Sachs was down by 1.2 percent to $160.52.

Bosch & Lomb declined by 17 percent to $47.67 and was downgraded by several ratings agencies after the news that it has had to suspend shipments of its ReNu contact lens solution with MositureLoc after some uses of the product suffered fungal infections.