The New York equities markets were mixed at midday on Wednesday after the release of some mixed earnings reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were each 0.2 percent lower, to 11,842.04 and 1,351.44, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.1 percent higher to 2,316.78.

Alcoa dropped 5.7 percent to $26.69 after it said Tuesday evening that profits were up 86 percent in the third quarter, a significant gain but much less than had been expected. The results were put to lower prices for aluminium and declines in automobile manufacturing and homebuilding.

Fund manager Legg Mason was 17.3 percent lower on a warning that earnings in its second quarter would be substantially lower than has been estimated. Merrill Lynch cut its recommendation on Legg from “buy” to “sell”. The news, coupled with an offer from Bank of America that gives 30 free trades per month to customers with $25,000 in bank deposits with BofA, sent other brokerages lower. Charles Schwab dropped 5 percent to $17.16, while E*trade declined 10 percent to $22.05 and TD Ameritrade was 10.6 percent lower to $17.07.

Ag biotech and fertilizer group Monsanto was 5.1 percent lower to $44.05 on the news that its losses in the third quarter were greater than had been expected. It also said that next year’s earnings would be lower than earlier estimated.

Among gainers, drug retailer CVS added 4.2 percent to $30.97 on a preliminary third-quarter earnings report that was better than had been forecast. Insurance provider Progressive, meanwhile, was 2.8 percent higher to $25.40 on a third quarter report that showed earnings up by 34 percent in the quarter.

The New York equities markets were up Wednesday at midday as investors waited for the Federal Reserve to issue its latest decision on interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6 percent to 11,603.91, while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.4 percent higher to 2,252.74 and the S&P 500 was also up 0.6 percent to 1,325.90. The S&P was at its highest level since February 2001, while the Dow was approaching its all-time high level.

Oil and oil-related companies were lower, however, as crude oil prices continued to decline. Halliburton was 2.7 percent lower to $28.32, while Marathon Oil dropped 3 percent to $71.26.

The tobacco sector was also lower as Reynolds American was 3.7 percent lower to $62.12 on a downgrade from “buy” to “hold” from Citigroup, which said that product shortages were driving consumers to other brands.

Plumber Masco declined by 2.1 percent to $26.77 after it revised its earnings guidance downward for this year based on the decrease in housing starts.

In the banking sector, however, investment banks saw gains on the day. Morgan Stanley added 0.9 percent to $72.51 on a 59 percent increase in third-quarter earnings, a better performance than had been anticipated. The news helped Bear Stearns, which gained 3.7 percent to $140.20, while Legg Mason was 4 percent higher to $100.87.

Oracle added 11.8 percent higher to $18.04 after it said that its fiscal first quarter profits were up by 29 percent, which its chief executive said was due to an increased market share.