In early afternoon trade in New York on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.34 percent to 13,657.53, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.08 percent to 2,668.52 and the S&P 500 was 0.07 percent higher to 1,531.51.

The gains came as the earnings season was about to get underway.

Mergers and acquisitions activity was in focus with a report that Apollo Management has raised its offer for chemicals group Huntsman (NYSE: HUN) to $28 per share.

Huntsman added 20 cents to $28.20.

FedEx (NYSE: FDX) gained 4.2 percent to $115.51 after a media report that private equity could be interested in making a bid.

Meanwhile, Boeing (NYSE: BA) was 92 cents higher to $99.80 in the wake of its unveiling over the weekend of its new aircraft, the Dreamliner 787.

Reports are that the aerospace group has received enough orders for the new plane that it is sold out until 2015.

Pharmaceutical and consumer products group Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) added $1 to $63.13 after its board approved a share buyback worth $10 billion.

Exchange operators were mixed on the expectation that shareholders in the Chicago Board of Trade (NYSE: BOT) are likely to approve a deal to merge with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (NYSE: CME).

While the Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), which has also bid in for CBOT, added 46 cents to $156.55, CME dropped $4.29 to $570.51 and CBOT declined $1.60 to $222.40.

Wall Street was lower in early afternoon trade on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.21 percent to 12,133.64, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.16 percent to 2,375 and the S&P 500 was 0.15 percent lower to 1,390.15. All three indices were headed for losses on the week, as well. Much of the heavy trade volumes had to do with the quarterly expiration of stock index and single stock futures as well as stock index and stock options.

Investment banks took losses on the week even though they have recently reported results that are better than had been anticipated. Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH), hurt by its exposure to the subprime mortgage sector, looked to be ready to end the week 5.8 percent lower to $71.44 after being down by 10 percent at one point on Tuesday. Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) was 1.2 percent lower to $199.21.

Retailers were down on the week, as well. Wal-Mart (NYSE WMT) dropped 2.7 percent to $46.13 as it withdrew its application to operate a bank. Target (NYSE: TGT) fell 3.9 percent to $59.49.

US carmakers also saw declines. Ford Motor was 4.7 percent lower to $7.56, while General Motors (NYSE: GM) dropped 4.8 percent to $29.50. GM’s decline came despite fourth quarter profits and revenues, as investors worried about how a possible slowdown in the economy would affect sales.

Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) added 5 percent to $45.17 on rumors that it was looking to enter a joint venture with Reliance Industries (NSE: RELIANCE) of India.

The Chicago Board of Trade (NYSE: BOT) was up 12.8 percent to $190.50 after the Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) made an unsolicited bid just as CBOT was about to complete a merger with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (NYSE: CME).

Wall Street was higher on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve voted to leave interest rates at 5.25 percent for another month. The accompanying statement pronounced the economy “somewhat firmer” and said that the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed’s decision-making body, will continue to keep an eye on inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, already up a bit before the decision, extended its gains to 0.7 percent to 12,607.67 by mid-afternoon. The Nasdaq Composite, lower before the announcement, was 0.4 percent higher to 2,457.81 afterwards. The S&P 500, steady earlier in the session, also added 0.4 percent, to 1,435.04.

Despite a fourth-quarter report that showed profits more than double, the Chicago Board of Trade dropped 0.4 percent to $168.40. Time Warner also saw declines, falling 0.9 percent to $21.84, even thought its profits were up by more than 30 percent in the fourth quarter.

In the tobacco sector, Altria dropped 0.3 percent to $87.27 even though its earnings in the fourth quarter were at $1.40 per share, significantly above the $1.23 per share that had been anticipated.

Eastman Kodak added 1.9 percent to $26 as it posted a profit in the fourth quarter, after having posted losses in the same quarter of 2005.

Bristol-Myers Squibb gained 2.5 percent to $28.74 on a report that Lehman Brothers will join Citigroup and Morgan Stanley to advise the pharmaceutical company of its options approaching a takeover bid that is expected from Sanofi Aventis.

The Dow gained on a 4.6 percent rise by Boeing to $89.98 after the aerospace firm raised its earnings guidance for this year after reporting earnings of $1.16 per share in the fourth quarter of 2006, better than the 98 cents per share that had been expected.

The New York equities markets were mixed at midday on Thursday on new concerns that the housing market in the United States is continuing to slow. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped 0.1 percent to 12,120.19 and the S&P 500 was 0.02 percent lower to 1,381.98. The Nasdaq Composite was 0.03 percent higher to 2,375.4.

Pulte Homes reflected the slowdown in its report of a significant drop in earnings and a warning that fourth-quarter earnings will be much lower than current estimates. Pulte’s shares were 0.7 percent lower to $31.98 in the wake of new data from the Commerce Department that shows the median price of a new home down 9.7 percent in September.

Stock exchanges were also lower on the session so far. Nasdaq dropped 0.5 percent to $36.80. Meanwhile, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which has agreed to take over the Chicago Board of Trade, dropped nearly 1 percent to $492.10. The Chicago Board of Trade itself dropped even more, by 1.6 percent to $145.08. The NYSE Group, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, fell 1.7 percent to $74.10 despite reporting third-quarter profits had tripled.

In the oil sector, ExxonMobil added 0.2 percent to $71.15 on operating profits that were at $10.5 billion in the quarter, the second highest quarterly profit ever reported by a US company.

Dow Chemical gained 0.9 percent to $40.52 on higher earnings and a share buyback scheme worth $2 billion.

Among retailers, Wal-Mart also added 0.9 percent to $51.30 on the announcement that it is expanding the $4 generic prescription price it introduced in Florida to 12 more states, bringing the total number of states now included in the program to twenty-seven.

Higher than expected core wholesale price inflation and bigger declines in industrial production in September weighed more than bids rumors and earnings reports in New York on Tuesday, sending equities markets lower at midday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.57 percent lower to 11,912.08, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.2 percent to 2,336.02 and the S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent to 1,359.91.

Both the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade saw gains on news of the planned merger of the two exchanges, which will create the biggest futures and options exchange in the world. CME added 2.21 percent to $514.35, while CBOT jumped 12.82 percent to $151.76 as shareholders learned that the merger would net them $8 billion worth of CME stock.

In financial sectors, Merrill Lynch dropped 0.08 percent to $84.04 even though its third-quarter earnings were up from $1.4 billion to $1.9 billion, even without what it gained in the sale of its asset management unit. Financial services group State Street was a decline of 2.2 percent to $62.94 despite of an increase of 93 percent in the third quarter over the same period last year.

Semiconductors declined as well. Intel was 3.4 percent lower to $20.88 ahead of its earnings report, due later in the day, on a downgrade from Goldman Sachs. Meanwhile Broadcom dropped 4.83 percent to $29.33.

The New York markets were quiet on Monday due to the Columbus Day holiday, and results were mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.1 percent lower at midday to 11,843.72, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.4 percent to 2,308.90 and the S&P 500 was virtually flat, up just half a point to 1,350.08. Besides the effect of the holiday, many investors were waiting for new earnings data to come in before committing themselves.

Chicago exchanges were mixed on the day. While the Chicago Mercantile Exchange added 4.5 percent to $513.05 on reports that it was looking at a possible deal with Deutsche Borse, the Chicago Board of Trade dropped 2.7 percent to $134.03 after the London Metal Exchange denied that the two are in discussions about a takeover of the LME.

Commodities stocks were higher. With crude oil prices up, Noble was 2.1 percent higher to $63.17 and Occidental Petroleum gained 1.5 percent to $46.25. Among companies dealing in metals, Alcoa added 2.1 percent to $28.31, while Freeport McMoran was up 2.8 percent to $54.28.

In a related sector, steel makers were up enough to take the S&P Steel Index to its highest level in three months. Nucor added 6 percent to $54.16, while US Steel gained 6.6 percent to $64.52.

In computer-related sectors, internet search engine Google was 1.9 percent higher to $428.64 on an agreement with Sony BMG and Warner Music to stream music videos. Meanwhile, chipmaker Nvidia added 5 percent to $32.48 to take its gains since July to 80 percent.

Wall Street managed a rally late in the day on Wednesday that took the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 higher but left the Nasdaq Composite essentially unchanged on the day. The Dow gained 0.2 percent to 11,005.74 and the S&P was also up 0.2 percent, to 1,278.47. The Nasdaq closed at 2,267.46.

The New York Stock Exchange went public for the first time in its 213-year history and saw its shares rise 24.5 percent during the day to $80. Rival exchanges, however, were down on the day, with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange down 0.6 percent to $419.74 and the Chicago Board of Trade losing 2.9 percent to $118.04.

Auction house Sothebys was up 12.2 percent to $23.40, a five-year high close, on a report of higher earnings due to an active art market.

Google dropped 2.90 percent to $353.88 on a lowered share price target, down to $490 from $500, from Goldman Sachs which nevertheless reiterated its “buy” recommendation for the internet search engine. The lowered target came after Google told investors that they should ignore an internal financial forecast that was posted on the company’s website by mistake.

In other sectors, Altria, which makes Marlboro cigarettes, was up 1.2 percent to $72.65, while Proctor & Gamble was up 1.3 percent to $61.07.