Wall Street was lower at midday on Friday as quarterly reports from various sectors disappointed.

The Dow Jones Industrial average was down 1.27 percent to 13,713.05, while the Nasdaq Composite had fallen 1.14 percent to 2,767.32 and the S&P 500 was down 1.12 percent to 1,522.82.

The exception to the generally poor quarterly reports was Google (NAS: GOOG; LSE: GGEA), which added $11.72 to $651.34 after it said profits were up by 46 percent in the third quarter.

Elsewhere, manufacturer 3M (NYSE: MMM) dropped $6.25 to $88.48 even though profits were up 7 percent in the quarter and it raised its full-year forecast after sales did not live up to expectations.

Construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) was down $2.85 to $74.81 after it lowered its full-year outlook even though profits were up 21 percent in the quarter.

In the banking sector, Wachovia (NYSE: WB) reported that profits were down 10 percent in the third quarter, sending shares 83 cents lower to $47.31 at mid-session.

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) was down 1.1 percent to $93.99.

Wall Street was lower in midday trade on light action due to the Columbus Day holiday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.4 percent to 14,015.77, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.3 percent to 2,772.26 and the S&P 500 fell 0.5 percent to 1,549.37 ahead of third-quarter results reporting, which begins Tuesday.

Aluminium group Alcoa (NYSE: AA) is scheduled to report first.

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) was down 1.1 percent to $90.39 after crude oil prices fell nearly $2 per barrel in morning trade, while Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) was $1.22 lower to $65.19 on an analyst downgrade.

In the mining sector, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX) dropped $3.36 to $107.30 on declining copper prices.

In the financial services sector, Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) fell $2.07 to $74.60 after it said it lost $5 billion on investments related to mortgages and buyout financing, earning it downgrades to “neutral” from both JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM; TYO: 8634) and Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS; SWX: CSGN).

Google (NAS: GOOG; LSE: GGEA) was up 1 percent to $599.80 after reaching a new record of $601.45 earlier in the session.

Markets were higher in midday trade on Wall Street after the US Labor Department reported that 110,000 new jobs were created in September, near expected levels, although unemployment was also higher, up to 4.7 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.67 percent to 14,067.31, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 1.43 percent to 2,772.76 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.79 percent to 1,554.98.

The Nasdaq was helped by gains for internet search engine Google (NAS: GOOG; LSE: GGEA) and Research in Motion (NAS: RIMM; TSX: RIM.TO).

The manufacturer of the Blackberry hand-held device added 12.2 percent to $112.84 the day after it turned in a better than expected quarterly report on Thursday, while Google gained 2.6 percent to $594.05 after Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) set its target share price for next year at $700.

The financial services sector also saw gains.

Citigroup (NYSE: C) added 1.8 percent to $48.48, while Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) was up 2.4 percent to $76.56 even though it said it will write off $4.5 billion in bad loans in the third quarter.

Retailers also saw gains as Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) added 1.2 percent to $45.53 and Target (NYSE: TGT) was up almost 4 percent to $67.77.

Wall Street was higher in midday trade as investors remained enthusiastic about the interest rate cut issued by the Federal Reserve last week and ahead of home sales data and a regional manufacturing survey due later in the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.14 percent to 13,839.94, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.53 percent to 2,685.51 and the S&P 500 was 0.71 percent higher to 1,526.46.

Carmakers were higher even though the United Auto Workers initiated a strike against General Motors (NYSE: GM).

GM gained 17 cents to $35.10, while Ford Motor (NYSE: F) was up 22 cents to $8.45 after its CEO said that it is talking with possible buyers for its Land Rover and Jaguar brands.

Technology shares were higher.

Apple (NAS: AAPL; LSE: ACP; FWB: APC) hit an all-time high of $149.85 and was trading $4.85 higher to $149 just past midday.

Internet search engine Google (NAS: GOOG; LSE: GGEA) also reached a new record high share price of $571.46 and was trading at $567.96 later in the session, a gain of $7.86.

Microsoft, meanwhile, was 83 cents higher to $29.48 ahead of the release of its “Halo 3” video game, due Tuesday.

Shares of solar power-related companies were higher as a solar power conference opened in Long Beach, California.

SunPower Corp (NAS: SPWR) added $2.14 to $86.01 on positive comment, while Power-One Inc. (NAS: PWER) gained 25 cents to $4.92 after it introduced a new photovoltaic inverter for large commercial solar systems.

New York markets were higher just after noon on Friday, helped by news from the tech and oil sectors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.79 percent higher to 13,874.90, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.92 percent to 2,678.64 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.8 percent to 1,530.89.

Trade was light as some were celebrating the Yom Kippur holiday. Software maker Oracle (NAS: ORCL) was up 89 cents to $21.93, it’s best in six and a half years, on a report that profits were up by 25 percent in its fiscal first quarter and the sale of new software licenses had risen by 35 percent.

In the semiconductors sector, Texas Instruments (NSYE: TXN) gained $1.23 to $37 on an increased dividend and expanded share buyback program.

Internet search engine Google (NAS: GOOG; LSE: GGEA) added $7.96 to $560.79, a new record high.

Persistently high oil prices sent shares in oil companies higher.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), was 63 cents higher to $89.03, while Chevron (NYSE: CVX) gained 91 cents to $95.07 and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) added 93 cents to $93.02.

Wall Street was higher in midday trade on Wednesday after an up-and-down morning on nerves from Tuesday’s declines and news that existing home sales were down by 3.8 percent in June.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.38 percent higher at mid-session to 13,769.71 after gaining as much as 100 points at one point and losing up to 30 points at another in morning trade.

The Nasdaq Composite was 2,647.27, up 0.28 percent, while the S&P 500 had added 0.36 percent to 1,516.51.

There were notable gains, however.

Pharmaceutical group Merck (NYSE: MRK) added $1.61 to $53.33 after it said it would buy NovaCardia (NAS: NCAR), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical firm that specializes in cardiovascular disease.

In the aerospace sector, Boeing (NYSE: BA; TYO: 7661) gained $3.56 to $107.36 after it reported that it earned $1.35 per share in the second quarter, higher than the earnings of $1.16 per share that had been anticipated.

The internet sector was mixed after Amazon.com (NAS: AMZN) said that its earnings in the second quarter were 19 cents per share, up from 5 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

The report brought upgrades - from “neutral to “outperform” from Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS; SWX: CSGN) and from “accumulate” to “buy” from ThinkEquity, which also raised Amazon’s target share price from $80 to $105.

Amazon was up $17.75 to $87 in early afternoon trade.

Other gainers in the sector included Yahoo (NAS: YHOO), which gained 9 cents to $24.93 and eBay (NAS: EBAY), which was 56 cents higher to $33.62.

Google (NAS: GOOG; LSE: GGEA), however, dropped $3.99 to $510.01.

In early afternoon trade on Friday Wall Street saw steep declines a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 14,000 level for the first time in history.

The Dow was down 1.26 percent to 13,824.34, while the Naasdaq Composite fell 1.41 percent to 2,681.56 and the S&P
500 was 1.24 percent lower to 1,533.81.

Disappointing quarterly reports and more concerns about the housing market and subprime mortgages drove the declines.

In the internet sector, Google (NAS: GOOG) dropped 5.7 percent to $517.53 after it reported that earnings were lower in the quarter on higher operating expenses and the adding of employees.

Microsoft’s (NAS: MSFT)report headlined higher earnings but bad news on the sale of personal computers sent shares 1.7 percent lower to $$30.98.

Construction machinery maker Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) fell 8.4 percent to $79.70 after it reported that earnings dropped on declines in truck engine sales and a decline in construction in North America.

Construction woes hit homebuilders as well, sending the Dow Jones US Home Construction Index 3.3 percent lower to 516.91, its lowest level since October 2003, on predictions that the US housing market will be in the doldrums well into next year.

Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) dropped 2.8 percent to $21.78, while Centex (NYSE: CTX) was 3.9 percent lower to $41.73.

Comments from the President of the St. Louis Federal Reserve that the mess in the subprime mortgage sector was big enough to affect the housing markets and consumer spending sent shares in banks lower.

Citigroup (NYSE: C) had gone higher on a positive quarterly report, but dropped 1.3 percent to $50.45 on subprime concerns.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was also lower, down 1.77 percent to $48.40 despite a 5 percent gain in earnings in the most recent quarter after it also increased provisions for losses from bad loans.

Wall Street was higher in early afternoon trade on Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.51 percent higher to 13,988.95, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.81 percent to 2,721.3 and the S&P 500 was up 0.43 percent to 1,552.85.

Earnings news was in focus as IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Juniper Networks (NAS: JNPR) both reported.

IBM said that second quarter profits were up with help from its software division and services business.

It also raised its profit forecast for this year, sending shares up $4.74 to $115.82.

Network equipment manufacturer Juniper, meanwhile, also said profits rose in the second quarter and upped its earnings outlook for the full year, adding $3.24 to $29.97.

Elsewhere in the computer sector, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) added $1.57 to $48.71.

Google (NAS: GOOG; LSE: GGEA), Microsoft (NAS: MSFT), and Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) were all scheduled to report after the close of trade on Thursday.

Google was $2.30 lower to $547.20, but Advanced Micro Devices was up 27 cents to $15.73 and Microsoft had added 57 cents to $31.49.

The internet sector was lower.

Ebay (NAS: EBAY) was down 53 cents to $33.52 after it did not change its full-year outlook. Meanwhile, Yahoo (NAS: YHOO) dropped 14 cents to $26.06.

Wall Street was mixed in midday trade, with the S&P 500 poised to close at an all-time high.

At mid-session, the S&P was up 0.1 percent to 1,548.47.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was also higher, up 0.1 percent as well to 13,881.64 after going as high as a new record of 13,910.26.

On the other hand, the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.2 percent to 2,695.09, but was still up 1.1 percent for the week.

Despite the decline for the Nasdaq, Google (NAS: GOG; LSE: GGEA) and Apple (NAS: AAPL; LSE: ACP; FWB: APC) were both higher on the day, each adding 0.8 percent to $549.88 and $135.14 respectively.

Earlier in the session, both reached new all-time high share prices, with Google rising as high as $552.56 and Apple peaking at $135.46.

Deals in the metals sector sent both Alcoa (NYSE: AA) and Alcan (TSX: AL; NYSE: AL) higher on the week after Alcoa withdrew its bid for Alcan after Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) submitted a higher bid.

With an announcement that it was resuming its suspended stock buyback program, Alcoa was trading at $47.39 on Friday, up 13.8 percent on the week.

There were also rumors that BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT; ASX: BHP; NYSE: BHP) could be readying a bid for Alcoa.

Meanwhile, Alcan added 12.9 percent on the week to trade at $97.65 at mid-session on Friday.

Manufacturer Energizer (NSYE: ENG) gained 9.7 percent on the week to $109.82 and Playtex (NYSE: PYX) was up 21 percent to $10 after Energizer said it would purchase Playtex, which manufactures consumer goods.

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) was 4.8 percent higher to $90.57 on higher oil prices after it had set a new record high of $90.77 during the week.

The New York equities markets were mostly steady at midday. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were even, at 12,211.43 and 1,394.66 respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.3 percent lower to 2,377.45. Shares in oil companies were higher as crude oil prices gained after new inventories reports showed that crude stockpiles fell by more than expected last week. Investor sentiment was hurt, however, by data showing that job growth in the private sector was not as robust as had been hoped.

In the oil sector, Chevron (NYSE: CVX) added 1.3 percent to $68.52, while ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was 2.2 percent higher to $67.15. While crude oil inventories dropped significantly against expectations of an advance last week, most of the decline was due to bad weather on the US Gulf Coast and inventories are expected to rebound this week.

Computer related stocks were mixed. Internet search engine Google (NAS: GOOG; LSE: GGEA) was down 0.3 percent at midday to $456.18 even though UBS (NYSE: UBS; SWX: UBSN; TYO: 8657) issued an upgrade to “buy”, from “neutral” on the company’s shares. IBM (NYSE: IBM) was 0.3 percent higher to $94.12 but Cisco (NAS: CSCO; SEHK: 4333) dropped 1 percent to $25.69 on reports that the two companies were collaborating on software development projects.

In the retail sector, American Eagle Outfitters (NAS: AEOS) fell 3.8 percent to $28.69 after the clothing retailer did not meet earnings estimates. On the other hand, office supply retailer Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) added 2.1 percent to $34.35 on an upgrade from “hold” to “buy” from Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB).