The New York equities markets were mixed at midday on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were each 0.2 percent lower, to 12,396.81 and 1,409.64 respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.1 percent higher to 2,445.49.
The oil sector was sent lower by the slide in crude oil prices. Hess dropped 1.1 percent to $47.68, while ExxonMobil fell 1.4 percent to $71.05, and Chevron was 1.7 percent lower to $69.43 after it downgraded its earnings projections for the fourth quarter. ConocoPhillips was down 2.4 percent to $65.89 and Occidental Petroleum fell 3.1 percent to $42.32.
The computer sector was mixed. IBM dropped 1.9 percent to $98.14 on a broker downgrade, but Apple Computer gained 4.6 percent to $97.12 after reaching a new all-time high of $97.80 earlier in the session on excitement about Tuesday’s launch of its new iPhone.
Airlines were higher after US Airways upped its offer for Delta Air Lines to $10.2 billion. US Air added 1.7 percent to $58.86, while Delta was 5.4 percent higher to $1.37.
Aluminium producer Alcoa gained 4.2 percent to $29.71 after its fourth-quarter report showed a profit of 74 cents per share for the quarter, better than earlier estimates of 65 cents per share.