House builders were mixed on Wall Street Thursday after the Commerce Department said that sales of new homes rose by 4.8 percent in September over August’s numbers.

The news initially sent markets higher, but the indices returned to declines on the reality that the increase had more to do with a revision lower in August’s numbers and discounted prices on homes in September in an attempt to sell inventory than with a real rise in sales.

At midday in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.26 percent lower to 13,639.08.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.84 percent to 2,751.43 while the S&P 500 was down 0.34 percent to 1,510.69.

Durable goods orders that were down by 1.7 percent in September, a bigger drop than had been anticipated, also weighed on the markets.

The mixed results among house builders also had to do with quarterly results.

Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) was down 29 cents to $14.70 after it said it lost $787.9 million in the quarter on a pre-tax charge and new orders that were down 37 percent from the previous year at the same time.

Elsewhere in the sector, KB Home (NYSE: KBH) dropped 27 cents to $26.54, but Lennar (NYSE: LEN) and Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH) each added 26 cents to $22.84 and $10.27 respectively.

The Nasdaq was hurt by a decline by software group Symantec (NAS: SYMC), which dropped $2.51 to $18.51 on a disappointing outlook.

Also on the Nasdaq, cable television and internet service provider Comcast (NAS: CMCSA) fell $1.85 to $22 after it said profits were down by 54 percent in the third quarter amid a competitive environment.

Wall Street was up in early afternoon trade on Monday after declines earlier in the day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.17 percent to 13,545.43, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.81 percent to 2,747.17 and the the S&P 500 was 0.23 percent higher to 1,504.04.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Merck (NYSE: MRK) added $1.21 to $54.32 after it reported that profits were up by 62 percent in the third quarter, boosted by ales of asthma and allergy drugs, blood pressure medicines, cholesterol drugs and a number of vaccines, including one for the prevention of cervical cancer.

The only bad news was that the drug maker still faces liability over its Vioxx anti-inflammatory drug which was taken off the market after being implicated in cardiovascular events in patients who took it.

Elsewhere in the sector, Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) dropped $4.29 to $28.42 after turning in a quarterly report that was not up to investors’ expectations.

Meanwhile Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) was 3 cents lower to $24.04.

Home builders were doing well in early afternoon trade, with several builders recording gains in the near-7 percent to nearly 8.5 percent range.

Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH) was up 76 cents to $9.82, while DR Horton (NYSE: DHI) was 88 cents higher to $12.83 and Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) had gained 89 cents to $11.44.

Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) added 94 cents to $14.62 and Lennar (NYSE: LEN) was up $1.39 to $21.08, while Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) jumped $1.56 to $22.08.

The New York markets were lower in midday trade on Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.8 percent lower to 13,980.57, while the Nasdaq Composite had fallen 0.62 percent to 2,788.15 and the S&P 500 had dropped 0.69 percent to 1,551.

Investors were worried after Citigroup (NYSE: C) after it said that earnings were down by 57 percent in the third quarter.

Citigroup fell $1.33 to $46.54.

Medical devices manufacturer Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) was $7.08 lower to $49.25 on the news that it has stopped selling its Sprint Fidelis defibrillation leads after they were show to be defective.

Meanwhile, biotechnology group Biogen Idec (NAS: BIIB) added $14.40 to $83.83 after it said it might put itself up for sale after talking to potential bidders.

A little earlier in the session, Boeing (NYSE: BA; TYO: 7661) was down $1.46 to $95.24 after a broker downgrade from “outperform” to “market perform” on the possibility that the announced six-month delay in the delivery of the aerospace group’s 787 Dreamliner could stretch further.

A downgrade also sent house builders lower.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) dropped $1.31 to $27.63 after UBS (NYSE: UBS; SWX: UBSN; TYO: 8657) dropped its recommendaton from “buy” to “neutral” and said that the housing market is not likely to recover until at least 2009.

Lennar Corp (NYSE: LEN) fell 49 cents to $23.71.

In early afternoon trade on Wall Street on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.05 percent higher to 13,885.22, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.3 percent to 2,707.02 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.17 percent to 1,528.07.

House builders were mixed, with some seeing gains even though the Commerce Department reported that new home sales were down again in August, dropping 8.3 percent even though analysts had expected a decline of just around 4.6 percent.

In addition, KB Home (NYSE: KBH) reported that revenues were down 32 percent in the quarter ending 31 August.

Besides reporting losses in the quarter, the CEO of KB Home said that he sees the housing market continuing its decline into next year, with no sign of recovery yet in sight.

Still, just before 1 p.m. New York time KB had added 5 cents to $24.13.

At the same time, Centex (NYSE: CTX) was up 22 cents to $25.66 and D. R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) had gained 2 cents to $12.88.

On the other hand Lennar (NYSE: LEN) had dropped 56 cents to $21.70.

Elsewhere, oil refiners were lower after analyst comment that their earnings are likely to see declines in the third quarter.

The analyst, from Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, rated the sector at “market weight”.

Individually, he rated Valero (NYSE: VLO) at “outperform”, but its shares still were 82 cents lower to $67.44.

Frontier Oil (NYSE: FTO) was $1.05 lower to $42.22, while Holly Corp. fell $1.51 to $60.52, Sunoco (NYSE: SUN) was down $1.79 to $71.58, and Tesoro (NYSE: TSO) dropped $2.16 to $47.54.

At midday in New York on Tuesday, Wall Street was mixed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.1 percent lower to 13,745.24 after falling even more earlier in the session, and the S&P 500 had dropped 0.34 percent to 1,512.61, but the Nasdaq Composite was 0.04 percent higher to 2,668.9.

The Conference Board reported that consumer confidence was at its lowest point in two years in September, while the National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales were lower in August than they had been in five years.

House builder Lennar (NYSE: LEN) reported that revenues fell 44 percent in the third quarter and it lost $513.9 million in the quarter, sending shares $1 lower to $23.18.

The retail sector also saw declines after department store Target (NYSE: TGT) and home improvement retailer Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) both reduced their full-year sales forecasts due to concerns about how much money shoppers will spend over the holidays.

Lowe’s was down $1.56 to $29.00, while Target was $2.54 lower to $61.77.

The declines came in the wake of a report last week from the National Retail Federation that said holiday sales will likely rise 4 percent this year, below the 10-year average of 4.8 percent.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Bayer (FWB: BAY; NYSE: BAY; TYO: 4863) said it will delist its shares from the New York Stock Exchange, effective Thursday, and will instead offer its American depository shares on the over-the-counter market.

The drug maker said the move will save it over $21 million per year.

It will also deregister with the Securities and Exchange Commission, removing the requirement that it share its results and statements in the US.

New York equities markets were down at midday on Friday after a report from the US Commerce Department that August retail sales were down 0.4 percent when expectations for a gain of 0.1 percent had been anticipated.

The figures excluded auto sales.

Other, separate reports, showed industrial production up only 0.2 percent in August and September consumer confidence down according to the RBC Cash Index and only slightly higher in the Reuters/University of Michigan survey.

US markets were also disturbed by Northern Rock’s (LSE: NRK) troubles in the UK.

However, declines were limited by hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut US interest rates when it meets next Tuesday.

In midday trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped 0.08 percent to 13,413.99, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.14 percent to 2,597.47 and the S&P 500 had fallen 0.15 percent to 1,481.79.

Despite the general declines, house builders were higher in light trading ahead of the Fed’s decision next week.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) was 38 cents higher to $27.07, while D. R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) had added 39 cents to $14.15.

Lennar (NYSE: LEN) gained 43 cents to $25.50, Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) was up 51 cents to $10.54, Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) added 54 cents to $20.56, and Centex (NYSE: CTX) climbed 67 cents to $26.81.

Some airlines were also higher, despite oil prices that remained high even though there had been some decline from Thursday’s gains.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK) was $1.66 higher to $24.68 after it announced a stock buyback worth as much as $100 million, while Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) gained 24 cents to $32.70.

Most other US airlines also saw gains, but Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA) fell 2 cents to $17.50.

Wall Street was lower in early afternoon trade after Janet Yellen, president of the San Francisco Fed said in a speech that interest rate policies should not be used to bail out investors even though market upheavals could hurt the economy, causing investors to worry that interest rates might not drop this month, as many had assumed.

Analysts said that if the Fed does not reduce rates the markets could see a major sell-off.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.38 percent lower to 13,064.04, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.63 percent to 2,549.43 and the S&P 500 was down 0.63 percent as well, to 1,444.37.

House builders saw major declines after Moody’s Investors Services said that the housing slump will likely last at least until 2009.

Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) was down 5.3 percent to $10.01 after its target share price was cut from $20 to $8 by JMP Securities in the wake of last week’s reported third-quarter losses.

Other declines in the sector included KB Home (NYSE: KBH), which was 4.7 percent lower to $26.62.

Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) dropped 3.1 percent to $15.02, Lennar (NYSE: LEN) fell 2.9 percent to $25.74, and Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) was down 2.4 percent to $19.85.

Mortgage lender Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) was 5.4 percent lower to $17.22 after Friday’s report that it will cut up to 12,000 jobs in an effort to rise above the sector’s problems and after it said it believes new mortgages will fall by 25 percent next year.

Gainers on the day included Apple (NAS: AAPL; LSE: ACP; FWB: APC), which added 2.7 percent to $135.20 on the news that it sold its 1 millionth iPhone Sunday.

The New York equities markets were up in midday trade.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.51 percent higher to 13,302.95, while the Nasdaq had added 0.55 percent to 2,555.8 and the S&P 500 was up 0.51 percent as well, to 1,469.92.

With crude oil prices higher, the oil sector saw gains.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was 87 cents higher to $80.27, while ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) added $1.24 to $84.99, Chevron (NYSE: CVX) was up $1.41 to $86.89 and Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) had gained $1.60 to $67.87.

New data on new home sales left the house building sector mixed. The Commerce Department reported that new home sales were up 2.8 percent in July after having dropped by 4 percent in June.

While the report seemed to ease fears that the housing slump could send the US economy into a recession, the fact remained that the sale of new homes was still 10.2 percent behind July sales last year.

Centex Corp (NYSE: CTX) added 16 cents to $32.02 after the report was issued, but Lennar (NYSE: LEN) dropped 3 cents to $29.96, Beazer (NYSE: BZH) was down 14 cents to $10.10 and Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) fell 23 cents to $17.36.

Clothing retailers were mixed on quarterly reports.

Gap (NYSE: GPS) added $1.03 to $18.43 after it said its earnings were up 19 percent and announced a share buyback worth $1.5 billion, but Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO) dropped 66 cents to $22.46 after its results didn’t meet analyst expectations.

Wall Street remained volatile on Thursday.

At just past 2 pm New York time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.02 percent to 12,730.51, but earlier in the afternoon it had been down as much as 308 points, or 2.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.2 percent to 2,429.39 and the S&P 500 had dropped 0.68 percent to 1,397.17.

Earlier, the Nasdaq had been down as much as 2.31 percent and the S&P had been down as much as 2.7 percent.

The Federal Reserve had earlier put another $17 billion into the banking system in an effort to raise investor confidence didn’t seem to have much immediate effect.

Investor fears seemed to be confirmed when Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) was forced to draw down all of an $11.5 billion credit line in order to fund its operations after it could not borrow in traditional credit markets and after Moody’s Investor Service warned that the mortgage lender’s debt ratings could be cut to junk status.

Moody’s said it had cut Countrywide’s senior debt rating from A3 to Baa3, the lowest investment-grade rating.

Countrywide was down 23.63 percent to $16.26 in early afternoon trade.

The Commerce Department said that new home construction dropped to its lowest level in over ten years in July.

The announcement left home builders mixed.

At early afternoon, DR Horton (NYSE: DHI) was still 0.06 percent higher to $15.70, while Lennar (NYSE: LEN) had added 0.07 percent to $30.04 and Standard Pacific (NYSE: SPF) gained 1.57 percent to $9.08.

However, Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) was down 1.38 percent to $21.48, while Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) fell 1.89 percent to $16.58, Centex (NYSE: CTX) had dropped 4.13 percent to $30.90, and Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) was 12.81 percent lower to $11.16.

In other economic news, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia announced that its general economic index was at zero in August, down from 9.2 in July, which meant that while the region’s economy is not contracting it is not expanding either.

Wall Street was down on Friday and both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 looked set to end the week down as well, although the Nasdaq Composite was likely to notch a gain for the week. The Dow had lost 0.7 percent by midday to 12,388.96, down 0.6 on the week despite hitting a new all-time high on Wednesday. The S&P was 0.8 percent lower on the session so far and 0.7 percent lower for the week at 1,407.94. While the Nasdaq was 1.1 lower over the session at midday, to 2,425.36, it was still up 0.4 percent on the shortened week.

The oil sector performed particularly badly as crude oil prices dropped over the week. Chevron was 4.4 percent lower to $70.32, while ExxonMobil dropped 5.6 percent to $72.34. ConocoPhillips was down 7.8 percent to $66.35 as it dropped its marketing and refining margins for the fourth quarter. Marathon Oil fell 8.5 percent over the week to $84.60.

Homebuilders saw declines. KB Homes dropped 4.4 percent to $49.03. Lennar was 4.8 percent lower to $49.92 after it said it would probably see a loss in the fourth quarter.

Technology stocks did better for the most part, although Motorola dropped 7.8 percent on the week to $18.95 after it said that fourth quarter earnings would be below predictions due to slow mobile phone sales. Chipmaker Intel added 3 percent to $20.86. Cisco was up 3.1 percent to $28.19 on the announcement that it has bought an e-mail security company. Internet search engine Yahoo gained 7 percent to $27.32, while BMC Software added 7.6 percent to $34.65.

Home improvement retailers did not seem affected much by the drop in the home construction sector. While Home Depot held steady at $41.84 for the week, Lowes added 2.9 percent to $32.04.