The New York equities markets were higher at midday on Tuesday on speculation that interest rates have finally finished rising and might even start to decline. At mid-session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.2 percent to 11,361.54, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.5 percent higher to 2,158.54 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.3 percent to 1,301.11.

In the semiconductor sector, Jabil Circuit was 2.4 percent higher to $27.88, to a total rise of 27 percent in the past month. It had previously fallen 50 percent from March until a month ago. Advanced Micro Devices added 6.3 percent to $24.87 on an optimistic market share forecast by a company official.

Internet search engine Yahoo was 1.5 percent higher to $29.32, while online auctioneer Ebay was up 3.9 percent to $27.79. Among computer makers, Apple Computer advanced by 2.2 percent to $68.04.

Satellite radio providers were up after Bear Stearns upgraded XM Satellite Radio from “underperform” to “outperform”. XM added 13.2 percent to $12.72 on the upgrade. Sirius Satellite Radio also benefited from the news, gaining 3.9 percent to $4.04.

Toll Brothers was up 4.4 percent to $25.87 even though the homebuilder reported a 19 percent drop in profits in its third quarter due to declines in the US housing market. The lower profits were about where they had been expected to be.

Wall Street was lower at midday on Friday and looked to be on track to end the week in the red as investors worried about what the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee will do about interest rates when they meet next week. Also affecting market activity were reports that both the Index of Leading Economic Indicators and durable goods orders were off in May, implying that economic growth in the US is slowing.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost 0.2 percent to 10,995.16 by mid-session, a loss of 0.2 percent for the week. The Dow, however, is still up 2.6 percent for the year so far. The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.1 percent to 2,120.45 at midday, down 0.4 percent on the week. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 was essentially flat, down just 0.95 points to 1,244.65, which brought it to a loss of 0.6 percent for the week.

The biggest gains for the week were in the oil sector, where Kerr-McGee added 33.5 percent to $68.52 and Western Gas Resources gained 41.6 percent to $59.71 on the news that Anadarko Petroleum will purchase both companies. The announcement sent Anadarko down 6.7 percent to $44.99.

General Motors was up 4.4 percent on the week to $26.73 after it was learned that Delphi, GM’s largest parts supplier, has reached a settlement with one of its unions on employee buyouts.

In the banking sector, Morgan Stanley gained 4.1 percent to $59.35 this week after it said profits doubled in the second quarter.

NYSE Group added 8.8 percent to $59.90 after Euronext characterized a modified offer from Deutsche Borse as basically the same as its previous bid and continued to recommend NYSE’s offer for the European stock exchange operator.

Jabil Circuit lost 6 percent over the week to $24.68, for a total decline of over 40 percent since the first of April, after announcing that it had been subpoenaed over its practices in granting stock options.

Univision dropped 6.5 percent to $33.43 after two private equity groups dropped out of one of two consortia bidding for the Spanish language broadcaster.

Midday on Thursday found the New York equities markets lower after new data showed the Index of Leading Economic Indicators down by 0.6 percent in May. The new figures were yet another sign that the US economy is growing at a slower pace. The possibility of new interest rate hikes also held investors back, with some analysts not expecting much change in the markets until the Federal Reserve meets next week.

By mid-session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped 0.2 percent to 11,057.29, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.5 percent lower at 2,130.30 and the S&P 500 had lost 0.3 percent to 1,248.80.

Miners declined with the price of gold and copper. Both Barrick Gold and Newmont Mining dropped 1.2 percent, to $27.97 and $49.90 respectively.

In computer related sectors, Apple Computer added 1.7 percent to $58.83 after French legislators approved a law concerning online music services that stopped short of provisions that had been proposed by some lawmakers. Chipmaker Micron Technology added 1.5 percent to $16.20 after Wednesday night’s news that it has finalized its merger with Lexar Media. Jabil Circuit, however, dropped 3.3 percent to $24.64 on the news that it has been subpoenaed about its practices connected with the granting of stock options. Jabil also has said that it is planning on eliminating jobs and closing some factories.

Bed, Bath and Beyond dropped 5.8 percent to $34.80. While its first-quarter earnings report was about where analysts expected it to be, the home furnishings retailer’s forecast of future profits was on the negative side and it said that some store openings could be cancelled.

Wall Street was higher at mid-session on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.2 percent to 11,102.19. The Nasdaq composite had added 1.7 percent to 2,141.75, while the S&P 500 gained 1.1 percent to 1,253.63. The number of shares traded stayed fairly low, which is a problem according to some analysts, who would like to see more shares change hands before considering the markets to be in recovery from recent losses.

Homebuilders saw advances. Toll Brothers was up 2.6 percent to $26.73, while Kaufman & Broad added 2.9 percent to $45.34 and Pulte gained 3.8 percent to $28.25.

Many technology stocks were higher as well. Cisco Systems was up 2.8 percent to $20.29, Hewlett-Packard added 3.2 percent to $33.92, and Amazon gained 3.7 percent to $36.49. However, Jabil Circuit dropped 3 percent to $25.45 ahead of a scheduled earnings report.

The New York Times added 4.7 percent to $24.52 after it said that it was looking at strategies for increasing the amount of for-pay content on its online service.

Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden and Red Lobster, saw a gain of 5.5 percent to $37.52 on the news that its fourth-quarter profits were up by 10 percent, around what had been predicted.

Also reporting fourth-quarter earnings was Federal Express. The parcel service said its fourth-quarter earnings were well ahead of analyst predictions, adding 27 percent. Its share price gained 4.7 percent on the day to $113.14.

Univision, the Spanish-language broadcaster, dropped 4.1 percent to $33.96 after one potential bidder missed a Tuesday deadline to submit an offer.