Wall Street was up at midday on Friday and seemed headed for gains on the week as well. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.3 percent higher on the session so far and up 1 percent on the week to 12,315.34, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.6 percent on the session and 1.2 percent for the week to 2,442.48 and the S&P 500 was up 0.3 percent on the day and 1.1 percent on the week to 1,411.46, its highest level since late in 2001.

Ford dropped 11.7 percent on the week to $7.10 on fears that the convertible bonds it sold this week could dilute the value of existing shares some time in the future.

The pharmaceuticals sector was active over the week, with mixed outcomes based largely on the results of drug trials. Pfizer dropped 9.8 percent to $25.13 after it halted development of a cholesterol drug due to harmful side effects. Auxillium Pharmaceuticals fell 13.8 percent to $14.35 after it stopped a clinical trial in its late stages, and Onyx Pharmaceuticals was 29.5 percent lower to $12.34 after a kidney cancer drug proved ineffective in treating advanced skin cancer.

On the other hand, Vanda Pharmaceuticals added 70.6 percent to $25.75 after a new schizophrenia drug proved to be effective in trials. Likewise, Halozyme Therapeutics gained 119 percent to $6.24 on an agreement to do research in tandem with Roche.

The New York equities markets were mixed at midday on Thursday ahead of new employment numbers, due Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.02 percent higher to 12,311.41, but the Nasdaq Composite had fallen 0.3 percent to 2,439.48 and the S&P 500 was down 0.04 percent to 1,412.33.

In the software sector, Oracle dropped another 2.3 percent to $17.47. The software maker was 5.2 percent lower on Wednesday on a “sell” recommendation from Lehman Brothers.

Among automobile manufacturers, Ford fell 1.6 percent to $7.24 on the sale of 30-year convertible bonds that could eventually become equity and dilute shareholder value.

Eli Lilly dropped 1.3 percent to $54.16 on a statement that its shares should earn $3.25 to $3.35 per share in 2007, lower than analysts estimates of $3.39 per share. Elsewhere in the sector, Auxillium Pharmaceuticals fell 7.6 percent to $14.74 as the specialty drug maker halted a late-stage clinical trial.

Among retailers, Home Depot was 1.1 percent lower to $39.47 after it announced that a review of stock option grants showed an unrecorded expense of around $200 million.

In the media sector, News Corp added 4.6 percent to $22.73 on a report that it will trade its stake in DirecTV for News Corp shares held by Liberty Media. Liberty gained 2.6 percent to $90.25.