By midday on Wednesday the New York equities markets were higher as the utilities sector was higher on mergers and acquisitions news and lower oil prices helped investor sentiment. The middle of the session saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.7 percent to 11,174.07, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.8 percent to 2,182.51 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.7 percent to 1,268.39.

If trends continue to the end of the day, the Dow seemed likely to lose 1.7 percent on the month, the Nasdaq was on track to lose 6 percent during the month, and the S&P was likely to be down by 3.2 percent for the month. For both the Nasdaq and the S&P, those figures would make May the worst month for the indexes in several years.

Semiconductors had the biggest losses during the month, with the sector down 9.4 percent as a whole. Intel was the leader of the losers, down 27.5 percent in the month to $18.06. Meanwhile, the automobile manufacturing sector was the most successful during the month. Even though it was down by 4.5 percent at one point, it ended the month 5 percent higher. General Motors was up 18.3 percent during the month.

The utilities sector saw significant advances. NRG Energy was up 16.1 percent to $49.95 on the news that Mirant had bid for the power-plant operator. The announcement helped other utilities, as Texas Utilities gained 2.8 percent to $57.73 and Edison International was up 2.7 percent to $39.40.

At midday on Friday the New York equities markets were up, ending a largely positive note. Despite troubles early in the week, several new data releases tended to calm investor concerns that interest rates will rise further in the short term. The only real threats to a pause in the interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve came with new data on Friday showing a rise in core inflation added to new home sales figures from earlier in the week that were higher than had been expected.

By mid-session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5 percent for the day and 1.1 percent on the week to 11,266.36. The Nasdaq Composite was also 0.5 percent higher to 2,208.95, a gain on the week of 0.7 percent. The S&P 500 was up 0.4 percent for the day to 1,278.28, 0.9 percent higher on the week.

There were two IPOs during the week, producing mixed results. MasterCard debuted on Thursday and immediately added 18 percent in its first day of trade. The credit card company lost part of those gains on Friday but was still up 16.2 percent on the week at $45.30 by midday. On the other hand, internet telephone company Vonage began trade on Wednesday and was 212.4 percent lower by mid-session on Friday at $13.36.

Automobile manufacturers had a good week. General Motors added 15.1 percent to $28.41 during the week, mainly on an upgrade to “buy” from Merrill Lynch. Ford Motor was up 4.1 percent during the week, to $7.32 even though S&P said it might issue another credit downgrade on the carmaker. In related stocks, Delphi, GM’s main parts supplier, gained 15.2 percent this week to $1.44 despite ongoing legal disputes with its unions.

Stock exchanges were down on the week. NYSE Group dropped 5.1 percent to $61.21 after making a $10.2 billion dollar bid for Euronext. Nasdaq was also down, by 3.8 percent to $31.78. Intercontinental Exchange lost 18.9 percent during the week to $56.76.

Wall Street was showing gains at mid-day on Thursday after investors welcomed new economic data that showed gross domestic product growth up and existing home sales down. Both sets of figures should lessen the chance of another interest rate hike in June.

The GDP grew by a revised 5.3 percent in the first quarter, short of predictions but more than the 4.8 percent that was first reported. Additionally, the sales of existing homes dropped by 2 percent in April.

By the middle of the session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.7 percent to 11,198.49, while the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 had each advanced by 0.9 percent, to 2,188.97 and 1,270.02 respectively.

MasterCard’s debut as a publicly traded stock was a success as shares, initially priced at $39, added 12.2 percent to $43.75. This was in contrast to Vonage, which made its first appearance yesterday. By midday, Vonage had lost another 11.7 percent to $13.11, bringing its losses to 22 percent in a day and a half.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, General Motors added 5.2 percent to $27.88 on the news that more employees than expected had taken the company up on its buy-out plan to cut costs. Ford Motor also advanced on the day, by 4.2 percent to $7.22.

In the retail sector, Wal-Mart gained 2.9 percent to $49.42 as Bank of America upgraded it from “neutral” to “buy”.

In internet-related stocks, Ebay and Yahoo each advanced on the news that the online auction business and the search engine have signed a multi-year advertising partnership deal. Ebay added 7.4 percent to $32.44 and Yahoo gained 3.3 percent to $32.85. Search engine Google, however, lost 0.9 percent to $377.99.

At mid-afternoon in New York, equities markets were down as new data showed durable goods orders lower than had been expected but new home sales up more than had been predicted. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was nearly flat, down by 10.08 points to 11,088.27, while the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 each had dropped 0.3 percent, to 2,153.62 and 1,252.97 respectively.

A decline in the price of crude oil after last week’s inventories report took ConocoPhillips down 2.8 percent to $60.92, while Chevron lost 1.5 percent to $57.22.

Miners were down as well with a decline in metals prices. Barrick Gold dropped 4.1 percent to $29.84, while Newmont Mining was down 4.2 percent to $49.02.

Internet telephone provider Vonage began trading on the New York Stock Exchange during the day. Shares lost 13 percent from their initial price in the first half-hour of trade and by the middle of the afternoon it was trading 13.2 percent lower at $14.76, on a volume nearly double that of any other NYSE stock on the day. In another initial public offering, scheduled for Thursday, Mastercard is scheduled to present the largest US IPO in two years.

Stock exchanges weren’t faring very well during the day. The InterContinental Exchange lost 8.6 percent to $53.87, while NYSE Group had declined by 5.7 percent to $57.93.

Gainers on the day included General Motors, up 7.2 percent to $26.24 on an upgrade from “neutral” to “buy” from Merrill Lynch.

After recent losses, Microsoft was up 2.4 percent to $23.34.

The New York equities markets had moved very little by midday on Thursday after sell-offs on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was essentially flat, losing only 5,52 points to 11,200.09. The Nasdaq Composite was up by just 3.24 points to 2,199.04, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.19 points to 1,269.13.

Gains in the retail sector helped the S&P. Limited Brands was up 5.4 percent to $26.66 after a quarterly report that showed income up 19 percent in the first quarter. The report persuaded Morgan Stanley to upgrade the clothing retailer from “equal weight” to “overweight”. Sears Holdings also revealed a good earnings report, leading to a gain of 12.4 percent to $153.09.

In the steel sector, Nucor was up 1.9 percent to $107.45 after it said it will build a plant in the Western US. US Steel, meanwhile, added 2.2 percent to $65.70.

Burger King added 4.2 percent to $17.72 and more than 15 million shares were traded as the fast-food chain began trade on the stock market.

Pharmaceutical company Merck was up 0.8 percent to $34.62 in anticipation of an advisory committee meeting at the Food and Drug Administration which will look at a drug intended to prevent viruses that are believed to cause cervical cancer.

In the computer sector, Hewlett-Packard was up 2.2 percent to $32.85 on an upgrade from “under weight” to “equal weight” by Morgan Stanley.

In the New York equities markets on Tuesday, investors were disappointed with newly reported profits in the retail sector, despite the fact that in some cases profits had gone up more than had been expected. This disappointment, coupled with a decline in housing starts, sent the New York markets lower at mid-day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 percent to 11,414.69, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5 percent to 2,226.46 and the S&P 500 declined by 0.2 percent to 1,291.35.

Among retailers, Wal-Mart was up on the day but Home Depot and Staples both declined. Wal-Mart showed a 6 percent increase in profits in the quarter, more than had been expected after a warning earlier that high energy prices could cut into earnings. At mid-session, Wal-Mart was 1.4 percent higher to $48.10.

Home Depot said it saw profits up by 19 percent in the first-quarter, higher than had been expected, but it said it was not happy with core retail sales. Investors picked up on that disappointment and shares in the home-improvement retailer were down 3.2 percent to $39.22.

Office supplies retailer Staples was down 6 percent to $24.83 on same-store sales that were up just 1 percent, even though it also reported a substantial rise in profits. Staples has had a hard time of it during the year, gaining only 16 percent since the beginning of the year even before the day’s declines, while its rivals Office Max and Office Depot have added 69 and 38 percent respectively in the same period.

Elsewhere, Apple Computer was down 2.7 percent to $65.95 after Creative Labs, based in Singapore, filed suit against Apple alleging patent infringement on CL’s Zen brand digital music player.

Afternoon trade on Monday saw the New York equities markets mixed as crude oil and commodities prices dropped and investors were still worried about inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3 percent to 11,342.25, but the Nasdaq Composite had declined 0.9 percent to 2,223.57 and the S&P 500 was 0.5 percent lower to 1,285.29.

With copper down 9 percent and the price of gold back below $700 per troy ounce, miners saw declines on the day. Newmont Mining fell 3.7 percent to $54.22, while aluminium producer Alcan was down to $52.98, a drop of 5.7 percent. Additionally, the price of crude oil was down almost 2 percent, which sent oil company ConocoPhillips down 3.5 percent to $62.92. Oilfield services company BJ Services lost 5.2 percent to $35.55.

Ethanol producer Archer Daniels Midland was also hurt by declining oil prices. ADM shares declined by 3.3 percent to $42.64.

In the retail sector, discounter Target lost 4.5 percent to $49.85, its lowest level in a year. Despite reporting that quarterly earnings were up 12 percent, investors were disappointed by lower gross margins.

Pharmaceuticals companies did better, with the sector as a whole up by 1.1 percent. Abbott Laboratories added 2.4 percent to $42.42, while Merck was up 1.5 percent to $34.79. The sector was helped by an announcement from AstraZeneca that it will purchase Cambridge Antibody Technology, a UK biotechnology company.

By the middle of the trading day on Friday, New York equities markets seemed poised to notch losses for both the day and the week after sell-offs in the wake of another hike in interest rates on Wednesday. Investors were apparently worried after comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that seemed to indicate more rate hikes to come.

At mid-session on Friday the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.4 percent on the day so far and 1 percent for the week to 11,458.47. The Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.7 percent to noon and 3.6 percent on the week to 2,257.68. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 had fallen 0.4 percent so far for the day and 2 percent during the week to 1,299.83.

The semiconductor sector was down over the week. Intel managed to avoid the worst of the declines after it announced that it will spin off its flash-memory division, but it still dropped 1 percent during the week. Losses elsewhere were greater, with Micron down 6.7 percent to $15.90 and Advanced Micro Devices osing 7.1 percent to $31.97.

Other computer-related stocks fell as well. Cisco Systems lost 6 percent on the week to $20.44 on worse than expected quarterly results. Dell also reported that its profits would be lower in the quarter, finishing the week 4.8 percent lower at $24.45 despite a gain of 2.9 percent on Monday.

Ethanol maker Archer Daniels Midland saw gains on the week, with shares up 9.5 percent to $44.58. This took its advances to 25 percent since the end of April and 87 percent since the beginning of the year.

Wall Street was down at midday on Thursday after crude oil prices jumped again, retail sales data for April was disappointing, and several sectors saw significant declines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1 percent to 11,531.95, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.6 percent to 2,284.60 and the S&P 500 declined by 0.9 percent to 1,311,12. Also contributing to losses were concerns that interest rates are already too high or are close to being too high after the Federal Reserve raised rates again on Wednesday.

In computer-related stocks, Apple Computer lost 3.8 percent to $67.93, while Cisco Systems was down again, this time by 2.9 percent to $20.14.

Glassmaker Corning, which manufactures glass components for LCD computers and televisions, dropped 5.5 percent to $25.68 after an admission earlier in the week that internal accounting controls for asbestos litigation were weak.

Insurer American International Group, the world’s largest, was down 4.7 percent to $64.44 after issuing its quarterly report late Wednesday. AIG’s first-quarter earnings were 5 percent lower than had been predicted.

Among gainers, News Corporation was up 3.1 percent to $19.72 on a third-quarter earnings report that showed net profit more than doubled in the quarter and earnings per share 30 percent above what had been expected. Along with the report, the company said that it was doubling its share buyback.

At midday on Wednesday the New York equities markets were down as investors awaited the latest decision by the US Federal Reserve on where interest rates are headed. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average was nearly steady, down only 2.39 points to 11,637.38, the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.4 percent to 2,328.74 and the S&P 500 was down by 0.2 percent to 1,322.80.

Comptuer networking equipment maker Cisco Systems was down 2.5 percent to $21.13 on a disappointing fourth quarter revenues prediction. The decline came despite a quarterly report that was better than had been expected.

In the semiconductor sector, Micron Technology was down 4.4 percent to $16.49 after Infineon announced that it will spin off its memory chip unit and list it on the New York Stock Exchange later this year. Infineon’s announcement comes shortly after rumors that Intel will be spinning off its flash-memory unit.

Still in computer-related stocks, software company Symantec added 3.8 percent to $17.74 after better than expected quarterly figures. Meanwhile, Chinese search engine Baidu.com jumped 27.3 percent on a first-quarter report that showed revenue up 196 percent and profit up 76 percent, a great deal more than had been expected.

Disney announced that quarterly profits were up 12 percent, sending its shares up 1.3 percent on the day to $29.95 despite revenue figures that were not up to predictions.

On the announcement that it has increased its holdings in the London Stock Exchange to 24.1 percent, Nasdaq added 0.3 percent on the day to $38.45. Its rival for control of the LSE, the New York Stock Exchange, gained 2.2 percent to $71.80.