At midday on Friday the New York equities markets were seeing gains for both the day and week on help from several sectors as well as from some positive economic news. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1 percent on the day and 1.6 percent on the week to 11,551.96, a six-year high. The Nasdaq Composite was at 2,333.58, a gain of 0.4 percent on the day and 0.5 percent for the week and the S&P 500 had added 0.4 percent for the day and 0.6 percent over the week to sit at 1,318.03 at mid-session.
In the steel sector, US Steel added 10.4 percent to $75.60 over the week, while Nucor was up 8.2 percent during the week to $117.74 on an upgrade from Merrill Lynch.
Among miners, Phelps Dodge was up 8.1 percent this week $93.14 on record copper prices and an upgrade from Bear Stearns. The copper miner has added over 40 percent since March. On the negative side, Coeur dAlene, owner of mines in Boliva, dropped 9.7 percent during the week to $6.30.
Stock exchanges were mixed this week as speculation was that the New York Stock Exchange would best Nasdaq for control of the London Stock Exchange. The NYSE added 7 percent on Friday and was up 1.6 percent during the week to $67.48, while Nasdaq lost 1.5 percent this week to $36.87.
The transportation sector had a good week, with Expeditors International up 19.1 percent on the week to $104.70. Rail-freight shippers had a good week on higher imports from China and the ability to charge more for their services. CSX was up 8 percent this week to $74.06, while Burlington Northern Santa Fe added 5.6 percent to $83.95.