The New York equities markets were up on Friday and on track to have their best week in over six months. At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.1 percent to 11,219.32, an advance of 3.2 percent during the week. The Nasdaq Composite had gained 1.3 percent to 2,081.67, gaining 3 percent on the week. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 was also up 1.1 percent on the day so far to 1,276.48, up 2.9 percent over the week.

Automakers had a good week. General Motors was up 11.4 percent in the course of the week to $32.29 even though its quarterly report showed a loss of $3.2 billion in consequence of the company’s employee buy-out plan. Without that expense, the car company’s operating profit was $1.2 billion in the quarter, better than had been expected. The news helped Ford, which saw an 8.4 percent gain on the week to $6.81.

In the telecommunications sector, AT&T added 10.4 percent to end the week at $30.19 after its second quarter report showed that earnings had rise by 81 percent, largely due to Cingular Wireless.

Oil and oil services companies also saw gains on the week. ExxonMobil was up 4.7 percent to $66.91 after it said that its quarterly profits was over $10 billion, up 36 percent. BJ Services, meanwhile, gained 15.2 percent this week to $34.62 on profits that were up by 86 percent in their third quarter.

There were losers on the week. Corning dropped 12.6 percent to $19.41on a warning that sales in the third quarter are not likely to rise to analysts forecasts. The problem is an increase in inventories of its liquid crystal display glass. Elsewhere, Amazon fell 19.4 percent during the week, bringing its decline since the first of the year to 43 percent. The internet retailer closed out the week at $26.75.

Mixed news from earnings reports kept the New York equities markets down slightly on Wednesday morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was less than a point lower to 11,103.16, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.3 percent to 2,067.64 and the S&P 500 also down less than a point, to 1,268.30.

In a report released after the close of trade on Tuesday, Amazon said that its quarterly earnings were down by 58 percent due to discounts on shipping and the end of its contract with Toysrus.com. Shares in Amazon dropped 19.9 percent to $26.92.

General Motors and Boeing both reported losses in the quarter. A net loss of $3.2 billion in the second quarter didn’t seem to shake the confidence of investors in General Motors. This was helped by operating earnings that were higher than had been expected at $1.2 billion, taking shares 4.9 percent higher to $32.15. Boeing, however, fell 3.9 percent to $80.46 even though its losses, related to the settlement of an investigation into its defense business, were expected.

Shares in companies that depend on the discretionary spending of consumers were down. Starbucks was down 4.2 percent to $33.90, while hotel Las Vegas Sands was also 4.2 percent lower to $66.42.

Glassmaker Corning dropped 10.7 percent to $19.34 even though second quarter profits tripled. It said that sales in the third-quarter would not live up to estimates. Shares in Corning have lost a third of their value since the beginning of May.

Wall Street was down at midday on Thursday after crude oil prices jumped again, retail sales data for April was disappointing, and several sectors saw significant declines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1 percent to 11,531.95, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.6 percent to 2,284.60 and the S&P 500 declined by 0.9 percent to 1,311,12. Also contributing to losses were concerns that interest rates are already too high or are close to being too high after the Federal Reserve raised rates again on Wednesday.

In computer-related stocks, Apple Computer lost 3.8 percent to $67.93, while Cisco Systems was down again, this time by 2.9 percent to $20.14.

Glassmaker Corning, which manufactures glass components for LCD computers and televisions, dropped 5.5 percent to $25.68 after an admission earlier in the week that internal accounting controls for asbestos litigation were weak.

Insurer American International Group, the world’s largest, was down 4.7 percent to $64.44 after issuing its quarterly report late Wednesday. AIG’s first-quarter earnings were 5 percent lower than had been predicted.

Among gainers, News Corporation was up 3.1 percent to $19.72 on a third-quarter earnings report that showed net profit more than doubled in the quarter and earnings per share 30 percent above what had been expected. Along with the report, the company said that it was doubling its share buyback.