Wall Street was higher at midday on Friday after the Commerce Department said that retail sales were up 0.6 percent in September over August’s numbers, twice the gain that had been expected.

In addition, the Labor Department said that wholesale prices added 1.1 percent last month.

However, when food and energy prices were excluded from the data, wholesale prices were only up 0.1 percent.

At mid-session the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.41 percent to 14,073, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.96 percent higher to 2,799.16 and the S&P 500 gained 0.41 percent to 1,560.86.

Technology-related businesses helped the gains.

Software manufacturer Oracle (NAS: ORCL) was 15 cents higher to $22.61 after it made a $6.66 million bid for rival BEA Systems (NAS: BEAS), which added $4.44 to $18.06.

Chipmaking equipment manufacturers were higher after Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronic Co (SEO: 005930) said it will increase capital spending on the production of semiconductors by over $1 billion.

Rudolph Technologies Inc (NAS: RTEC) was up 38 cents to $13.80, while Applied Materials (NAS: AMAT; SEHK: 4336) gained 81 cents to $20.94 and Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates Inc (NAS: VSEA) added $2.67 to $48.55.

Elsewhere, General Motors (NYSE: GM) added $1.48 to $41.47 after it said that sales in Latin America were up.

General Electric (NYSE: GE) dropped 93 cents to $40.66 even though its earnings were up 14 percent in the third quarter.

In the banking sector, Citigroup (NYSE: C) fell 68 cents to $47.65 after it said it will join its alternative investments and investment banking division into a single business.

The news spurred Deutsche Bank to cut its recommendation on Citigroup from “buy” to “sell” on the grounds that the changes are not enough.

Wall Street was mixed at midday on Friday as some quarterly reports failed to inspire investors.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.21 percent lower to 12,541.50, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.04 percent to 2,444.11 and the S&P 500 was 0.11 percent higher to 1,427.87.

IBM dropped $3.82 to $95.63 even though it reported profits that were better than anticipated in the fourth quarter.  A portion of the increase in profits was due to a change in IBM’s tax rates.  Meanwhile, General Electric dropped 79 cents to $37.21 on disappointing results in its fiscal first quarter.

Citigroup also saw declines, with its share price dropping 34 cents to $54.05 due to a 26 percent decrease in profits in the fourth quarter.

Motorola added 67 cents to $19.38.  It had warned in January that its fourth quarter profits would not meet expectations due to discounts on mobile phones.  And, indeed, its earnings were lower, but turned out to be better than the warnings had led investors to expect.

Mergers and acquisitions also played into the days results.  Morgan Stanley added 55 cents to $81.76 after its real estate unit said it would buy hotel real-estate investment trust CNL Hotel & Resorts, spending $3.13 billion on the transaction.  Abbott Laboratories added 61 cents to $53.40, its highest share price in a year, after it said it will sell part of its medical testing division to General Electric.

The New York equities markets were mixed at midday on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.1 percent lower to 12,383.19, while the S&P 500 was fractionally lower to 1,409.38. The Nasdaq Composite, however, had overcome early declines and was 0.1 percent higher to 2,437.47. Analysts said that investors were being careful before companies begin releasing their fourth quarter earnings reports.

Retail was affected by broker sentiment. Bed Bath & Beyond added 2.1 percent to $39.68 after Goldman Sachs upgraded its recommendation to “buy” in anticipation of good quarterly results. The same broker downgraded Wal-Mart from “buy” to “neutral”, sending the discount retailer down 0.3 percent to $47.23.

Broker comment helped Apple, which added 1.1 percent to $86 after JPMorgan Securities upped its profit forecast for the first quarter for the computer maker.

Mergers and acquisitions activity played a part in moves in the oil sector. Forest Oil will buy Houston Exploration in a deal worth $1.5 billion in cash and stocks. Houston added 4.3 percent to $50.78, but Forest dropped 3.1 percent to $30.26. Meanwhile, General Electric will purchase oil and gas equipment supplier Vetco Gray for $1.9 billion. The news sent GE 0.5 percent lower to $37.39.

In the healthcare sector, medical device manufacturer St Jude Medical added 6.1 percent to $37.13 after it said its fourth quarter earnings will be higher than had been anticipated.

The New York equities markets were mixed at midday on Thursday on news from corporate earnings reports and new data from the Philadelphia Fed that showed its manufacturing index down 0.7 percent in October when an advance had been predicted. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.15 percent higher to 12,011, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.1 percent to 2,339.57 and the S&P 500 was just 0.01 percent lower to 1,365.

Among gainers on the day were Apple Computer, which added 6.35 percent to $79.26 on higher net income on sales of both Macintosh computers and iPod music players. Also up were Yahoo, 1.1 percent higher to $23.24 and UPS, which added 4.23 percent to $75.54 on higher earnings. AT&T was up 2.9 percent to $33.89 on an upgrade from Lehman Brothers.

The semiconductors sector was significantly lower. Cypress Semiconductor was 9.1 percent lower to $17.24 on the announcement that is no longer thinking of selling. Advanced Micro Devices dropped 10.4 percent to $21.72 after it said Wednesday that its gross margins were down. AMD added, however, that it expects higher demand and sales in the fourth quarter. Intel declined a lesser 1.1 percent to $20.88 on quarterly earnings that were lower.

Other losers on the session included McDonalds, down 1.4 percent to $40.90 despite meeting its revised guidance. Citigroup dropped 0.8 percent to $49.79 on lower net income in its third quarter. In addition, General Electric was down 0.9 percent to $35.56 on the news that its NBC Universal entertainment unit will make cost-cutting moves.

New data on retail sales in the United States along with positive corporate earnings reports helped the New York equities markets to midday gains despite the news that yields on ten-year US Treasury bonds had gone above 5 percent for the first time in almost four years.

At mid-session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.3 percent to 11,158.14. The Nasdaq Composite had advanced by 0.8 percent to 2,332.29, while the S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent to 1,290.38.

General Electric reported that its profits were up 14 percent in the first quarter and it reiterated its full-year guidance for 2006, but its shares dropped 1.5 percent to $33.95. Still, Goldman Sachs kept its rating of GE at “outperform”.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector index added 1.3 percent as chipmakers supported the Nasdaq. Lam Research, which makes semiconductor processing equipment, added 6.7 percent to $47.69 on a 45 percent rise in earnings in its third quarter. Intel gained 2.4 percent to $19.58 ahead of an earnings report due next week.

Bucking the trend in the sector, Advanced Micro Devices dropped 7.8 percent to $32.66 despite earnings that were better than expected in the first quarter. A weak second-quarter guidance led Sanford C. Bernstein to downgrade the company’s shares.

Flash-memory products maker SanDisk added 4.2 percent to $61.99 when the S&P said it will install the company in its index in place of Chiron Corp.

The New York equities markets were mixed at midday on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite up slightly but the S&P 500 down a bit on losses in the energy sector.

The Dow was up 0.1 percent by mid-session to 11,028.71. The Nasdaq had risen by 0.2 percent to 2,306.96. The S&P, however, was down 0.1 percent to 1,286.58.

Mergers and acquisitions provided much of the day’s activity. AT&T lost 1.4 percent to $27.61 on a weekend announcement that it will purchase BellSouth for $67 billion, making AT&T the world’s largest telecommunications company. The loss came despite an upgrade from “market perform” to “outperform” by Wachovia Securities. BellSouth, with an upgrade from Bear Stearns, gained 11 percent to $34.72.

Elsewhere in the sector, Verizon dropped 0.1 percent to $33.54. Qwest Communications, which is seen as another takeover target, gained 4.6 percent to $6.98. Alltel was up 4 percent to $66.86, while Sprint Nextel rose by 3.2 percent to $24.97.

General Motors was up 4.3 percent to $20.04 on the news that Suzuki Motor has agreed to buy out its 17 percent of the company for $2 billion, money GM will use in its restructuring efforts.

General Electric, meanwhile, agreed to purchase iVillage. GE was up 0.5 percent on the announcement to $33.22 and iVillage gained 5 percent to $8.38.

The New York equities markets were up in midday trade on Monday after losses on Thursday and Friday of last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had risen by 0.5 percent to 11,118.60 by the middle of the session, while the Nasdaq composite was up 1 percent to 2,308.84 and the S&P 500 was up 0.5 percent to 1,295.45.

The retail sector helped buoy the S&P, with home improvement retailers Lowe’s and Home Depot both up even though data showed new home sales down sharply. Lowe’s gained 4.5 percent to $68.45 on its report of a 37 percent increase in profits in the fourth quarter, while Home Depot gained 1.2 percent to $42.11.

Technology stocks aided the Nasdaq in its gains. Intel gained 1.7 percent to $20.68 on an upgrade to “outperform” from “market perform” on the expected success of several pending product introductions. Intel’s rival, Advanced Micro Device, was up 0.9 percent to $40.89.

Walt Disney and Apple both saw gains as rumors spread that Apple might bid for Disney after Apple founder Steve Jobs succeeds in becoming Disney’s top shareholder. Disney was up 1.3 percent to $28.33 and Apple added 0.6 percent to $71.86.

In the utilities sector, Texas Utilities was up 3.7 percent to $51.59 on word that General Electric might buy into the company. GE, which also announced that it will sell its stake in Genworth Financial, was up 0.3 percent to $33.25.