Mixed quarterly reports sent Wall Street lower at midday on Thursday, despite Tuesday’s interest rate cut and a Labor Department report that showed that new unemployment claims were down by 9,000 last week.

There was little indication from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, of what if any further measures the Fed might take to further alleviate the repercussions from the credit crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.13 percent to 13,797.35, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.18 percent to 2,661.71 and the S&P 500 was 0.27 percent lower to 1,524.96.

In the financial services sector, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) gained $2.80 to $208.10 after it said its profits were up by 79 percent in the third quarter, a surprise considering the chaos in the subprime market.

While Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) saw declines after it said its profits fell by 62 percent in the quarter, it added $3.13 to $118.77 after its CFO said that the worst of the losses seems to be behind it.

Elsewhere, electronics retailer Circuit City was $1.81 percent lower to $8.76 after it reported losses in the quarter.

Most airlines were lower as oil prices remained near record levels and Goldman Sachs issued a warning that the sector could be subject to competitive pressures and a tough economy.

Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) was $1.02 lower to $32.66, while Alaska Air (NYSE: ALK) dropped 96 cents to $24.27.

AMR (NYSE: AMR), the parent of American Airlines, fell 70 cents to $23.92.

Goldman Sachs cut its rating on both AMR and Alaska Air from “neutral” to “sell”.

On the other hand, the broker raised its recommendation on Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) from “sell” to “neutral”, sending Southwest’s shares 21 cents higher to $15.34.

Wall Street was higher in early afternoon trade Tuesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.04 percent higher to 13,126.39, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.48 percent to 2,520.55 and the S&P 500 was up 0.25 percent to 1,449.22.

The oil sector declined as oil prices fell below $70 per barrel in New York as Hurricane Dean weakened with no lasting damage to oil production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.

Chevron (NYSE: CVX) was 20 cents lower to $84.69, while ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) dropped $1.21 to $78.65 and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) fell $1.28 to $83.25.

The declining oil prices sent AMR (NYSE: AMR), the parent company of American Airlines, $1.34 higher to $23.55.

Most banks were higher after Senate Banking Committee Chairman and Democratic presidential candidate Christopher Dodd said after a meeting with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that that Mr. Bernanke said that he was willing to do whatever necessary to calm the markets.

This led some analysts to speculate that there will soon be a cut in US interest rates.

While JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM; TYO: 8634) was 1 cent lower to $46.48, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) had added 31 cents to $62.97, Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER; TYO: 8675) was up 74 cents to $75.64 and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) had gained $3.74 to $176.50.

The telecommunications sector was also higher.

Sprint-Nextel (NYSE: S) was 15 cents higher to $18.41, while AT&T (NYSE: T) had added 46 cents to $39.11.

Wall Street was higher by the middle of Wednesday’s session despite bad news from selected sectors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.2 percent higher to 11,521.22, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.5 percent to 2,226.05 and the S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent to 1,316.45.

Some of the bad news came from Hewlett Packard, which dropped 1.9 percent to $36.22 after the California Attorney General said that there was evidence that could lead to charges against company officials in connection with leaks by board members to the media.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Merck fell 2.4 percent to $41.15 after its Vioxx drug was linked to kidney and heart problems in two reports which were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

News was better elsewhere. Gap, the clothing retailer, added 2.3 percent to $17.48 on an upgrade from “equal weight” to “overweight” from Lehman Brothers. AMR, the parent company of American Airways, gained 2.6 percent to $22.78 on an upgrade from “neutral” to “buy” from Merrill Lynch.

The transport sector saw advances based on the news that spot-freight rates for grain are as high as they have been all year. CSX was 3.6 percent higher to #31.94, while Expeditors International gained 6.7 percent to $46.07.

With a ceasefire between Israel and Hizbollah taking effect and crude oil prices heading downward in response, New York equities markets saw gains at midday on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 1 percent to 11,195.76, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 1.6 percent to 2,091.26 and the S&P 500 gained 0.9 percent to 1,278.00 by the middle of the day’s session.

The decline in oil prices was not such good news for the oil sector, however. ConocoPhillips was 2.3 percent lower to $66.84, while Hess dropped 2.5 percent to $50.64 and Valero Energy declined by 2.9 percent to $62.87.

Lower prices on oil were good news for airlines, though. AMR, the parent company of American Airways, was 4.6 percent higher to $19.70, while JetBlue Airways added 4.5 percent to $10.27.

Among automobile manufacturers, Ford Motor was up 4.6 percent to $7.71 on an upgrade from “underperform” to “outperform” from Bear Stearns. Monday’s gains brought Ford’s advance in the past three weeks to 25 percent.

The retail sector also saw gains. Nordstrom was 3.3 percent higher to $35.45 ahead of its quarterly earnings report on Thursday. Dillard’s added 5 percent to $32.89 after the department store reported that it had a $15.7 million profit in the second quarter this year after having recorded a loss during the same quarter in 2005.