Wall Street equities markets were mixed at midday on Friday but looked poised to close higher for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.2 percent lower at noon to 12,646.20 but still 1.3 percent higher for the whole week. The Nasdaq Composite was 0.1 percent higher at mid-session at 2,470.93, a gain of 1.5 percent on the week, while the S&P 500 was even on the day so far but up 1.7 for the week at 1,445.75. The Russell 2000 index of mid-caps was 2.7 percent higher on the week at lunchtime, having breached the 800 level for the first time in its history.
Bids news was in focus. Bristol Myers Squibb added 9.4 percent over the week to $28.67 on bids talk, while newsprint producers Abitibi-Consolidated and Bowater announced that they would merge. The announcement sent Abitibi 20.4 percent higher to $3.18, while Bowater gained 24.3 percent to $27.53.
US Airways withdrew its bid for Delta Air Lines, which is currently in bankruptcy protection. The bid was rescinded after some of Delta’s unsecured creditors objected to the deal. US Airways added 10.3 percent on the week to $57.50, helped by a quarterly report that showed it had returned to profitability in the fourth quarter.
Earnings news also had an effect on the markets this week. Biopharmaceuticals company Gilead Sciences gained 13.2 percent over the week to $71 on a better than expected earnings report, while Boeing gained 5.9 percent on the week to $90.48. But just doing better than had been anticipated did not necessarily mean gains. While it gained 1.7 percent during the week, Amazon was 3.2 percent lower to $37.47 on concern over margins even though it beat estimates. Meanwhile, 3M dropped 6.1 percent to $73.92 even though it did better than expected when it said that slow growth in the world economy could hurt its results this year.