Stocks were higher on Wall Street in midday trade as the Commerce Department reported that the US trade deficit dropped 2.4 percent in August to $57.6 billion from its July level.

In addition, the Labor Department said that new unemployment claims fell to 308,000 last week, a drop of 12,000 from the previous week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.53 percent higher at mid-session to 14,152.99 after rising to a new record of 14,181.36.

The Nasdaq Composite was 0.56 percent higher to 2,827.37, while the S&P 500 was up 0.59 percent to 1,751.71 after rising to a record 1,573.47.

In the retail sector, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) added $1.61 to $47.20 after it issued an improved earnings estimate for the third quarter, saying it will record earnings of between 66 and 69 cents per share, from an earlier prediction of 62 to 65 cents per share.

With a gain in same-store sales, clothing retailer Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO) gained $2.11 to $22.02, while TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX), which owns T. J. Maxx and Marshalls stores, was $1.63 higher to $31.29 after it said same-store sales were up 2 percent in September.

Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD) added 76 cents to $22.34 even though it said it suffered a drop of 4 percent in same-store sales in September.

J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) dropped $3.22 to $64.78 on same-store sales that were much worse than had been anticipated, causing the clothing retailer to reduce its third quarter estimate.

Elsewhere, the oil sector saw gains after prices rose on a report that crude oil stockpiles dropped more than expected last week.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was up 44 cents to $87.17, while ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) added 80 cents to $93.93.

After some early declines, Wall Street was mixed at midday on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.11 percent lower to 12,461.30, a rebound to about 13 points lower after having fallen around 50 points earlier in the session. On the other hand, the Nasdaq Composite was 0.64 percent higher to 2,438.59, while the S&P 500 was up slightly to 1,416.68. Volume was at 761 million shares changing hands by the middle of the session.

Lower oil prices helped retailers, some of which saw slight gains even though they issued profits warnings earlier in the session. Target gained 4 cents to $57.22 even though it did not live up to earlier estimates of sales. The Gap added 5 cents to $10.36 despite saying that its fourth quarter of 2006 will not meet expectations. Federated Department Stores was 16 cents higher to $37.67. Limited Brands, however, dropped $1.98 to $27.60 on reports that store traffic was down.

The oil sector, on the other hand, declined on the lower prices for crude oil. Chevron dropped 35 cents to $70.62, while ExxonMobil fell 68 cents to $73.43.

Several new bits of economic data affected trade during the day. The Institute of Supply Management’s services sector index showed that growth was slower in December than it had been in November. On the other hand, the Commerce Department reported that factory orders were up in November, but the news was tempered by the fact that the comeback was smaller than expected and partly the result of a big demand for military aircraft. Additionally, the Labor Department said that unemployment claims were at their highest level since late in November.

Wall Street was higher at midday on Tuesday as commodity prices declined, which sent miners and oil stocks lower but helped the retail sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.64 percent to 11,745.27, while the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 were each 0.3 percent higher, to 2,243.50 and 1,335.12 respectively.

With gold and copper prices down, miners declined significantly. Newmont Mining dropped 3.4 percent to $41.74, while Freeport McMoran fell 5.1 percent to $50.73.

Oil services companies were lower on dropping crude oil prices. Ensco International declined 3 percent to $40.42 on a downgrade from “overweight” to “neutral” by JPMorgan. Diamond Offshore ell 4.3 percent to $65.58.

The retail sector, however, liked the drop in oil prices on the possibility that lower gasoline and heating oil prices would free up more consumer dollars for other purchases. Limited Brands was 2.8 percent higher to $27.51, while office-supply retailer Staples gained 5.1 percent to $25.50

Semiconductors were lower on the session. Marvell Technology dropped 14.1 percent to $16.40 after saying that it would restate its financial results and after reducing its 2007 revenues outlook. Broadcom declined 3.8 percent to $29.68.

The New York equities markets had moved very little by midday on Thursday after sell-offs on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was essentially flat, losing only 5,52 points to 11,200.09. The Nasdaq Composite was up by just 3.24 points to 2,199.04, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.19 points to 1,269.13.

Gains in the retail sector helped the S&P. Limited Brands was up 5.4 percent to $26.66 after a quarterly report that showed income up 19 percent in the first quarter. The report persuaded Morgan Stanley to upgrade the clothing retailer from “equal weight” to “overweight”. Sears Holdings also revealed a good earnings report, leading to a gain of 12.4 percent to $153.09.

In the steel sector, Nucor was up 1.9 percent to $107.45 after it said it will build a plant in the Western US. US Steel, meanwhile, added 2.2 percent to $65.70.

Burger King added 4.2 percent to $17.72 and more than 15 million shares were traded as the fast-food chain began trade on the stock market.

Pharmaceutical company Merck was up 0.8 percent to $34.62 in anticipation of an advisory committee meeting at the Food and Drug Administration which will look at a drug intended to prevent viruses that are believed to cause cervical cancer.

In the computer sector, Hewlett-Packard was up 2.2 percent to $32.85 on an upgrade from “under weight” to “equal weight” by Morgan Stanley.