Wall Street was a bit lower at midday on Tuesday as investors waited to see whether or not the US Federal Reserve would leave interest rates at 5.25 percent as expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.1 percent lower to 12,315.9, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.2 percent to 2,437.31 and the S&P 500 remained steady at 1,412.90 in the middle of the trading day.

The Nasdaq Stock Market added 0.5 percent to $36.47 after it made its hostile takeover bid for the London Stock Exchange official by offering $5.3 billion for the exchange. Nasdaq already owns 28.75 percent of the LSE.

Texas Instruments added 0.4 percent to $29.42 after seeing declines overnight after it cut its earnings and sales projections for the fourth quarter. The gains came after JP Morgan upgraded its recommendation on the chipmaker from “neutral” to “overweight”.

In the steel sector, Nucor dropped 8.1 percent to $59.12 after it used low prices and high inventories as its excuse for issuing a fourth-quarter prediction that was below analyst estimates. The decline affected the sector, with US Steel falling 5.2 percent to $73.20.

Best Buy was 5.1 percent lower to $51.19 after it said that its net income was 31 cents per share, lower than the 35 cents per share expected by analysts.

The New York equities markets were lower at midday on Monday as investors returned from the long Thanksgiving Day weekend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1 percent lower to 12,154.4, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.7 percent to 2,418.55 and the S&P 500 fell 1 percent to 1,386.74.

Retailers saw losses even though the National Retail Federation reported that average spending for the start of the holiday shopping season was up 18.9 percent from last year over the same period. JC Penney dropped 1 percent to $79.91 despite it’s statement Saturday that it was seeing a “good start” in holiday sales. Wal-Mart fell 1.8 percent to $47.06 after it said over the weekend that same-store sales in the US were down 0.1 percent in November, the first time it has seen a decline in that month in ten years. J Crew was 4.4 percent lower to $41.37 on a rating downgrade from CIBC, after gaining 22 percent last week on its profits report.

Stock exchanges were mixed. Nasdaq added 0.7 percent to $40.93 after elaborating on how it plans to raise the money for its bid on the London Stock Exchange. On the other hand, NYSE Group dropped 2.2 percent to $105.84 and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange fell 2.6 percent to $2.55.

The financial services sector was lower as Goldman Sachs declined 2.1 percent to $197.37. Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns each fell 2.4 percent, to $77.06 and $154.76 respectively.

Automobile maker Ford Motor was 2.7 percent lower to $8.21 on its announced plan to borrow $18 million dollars. It said it would back the loans with collateral.

Internet search engine Google dropped 2.6 percent to $491.98 on profit-taking.

The New York equities markets were mixed at the mid-point in the session on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite lower and the S&P 500 up slightly. The Dow was 0.02 percent lower to 12,314.54, while the Nasdaq had dropped 0.1 percent to 2,449.87. Meanwhile, the S&P was 0.08 percent higher to 1,401.57.

Google’s share price rose above $500 for the first time as it added 1.8 percent to $504.13 after going as high as $505.72 earlier in the day. Google has gained 37.6 percent since the beginning of August.

Boeing was up 1.6 percent to $90.54 on the news that Korean Air has placed an order for 25 aircraft. The order was said to be worth $5.5 billion dollars.

Oregon Steel Mills dropped 1.2 percent to $63 after its 8.2 percent gain on Monday after it was announced that Russian company Evraz Group will buy the steel maker. Elsewhere in the sector, share prices were up. Nucor added 2.5 percent to $58.88.

Dell Computer was 1.1 percent higher to $24.92 ahead of its quarterly report, due after trade closes for the day. The report, which was originally supposed to have been released last Thursday, is widely expected to show a drop in earnings per share of almost 40 percent.

Nasdaq dropped 0.9 percent to $37.37 amid speculation that it is thinking about raising its offer for the London Stock Exchange after its most recent bid was rejected on Monday.

At the mid-point of the trading session on Monday, the New York equities markets were higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.05 percent to 12,348.83. The Nasdaq Composite was 0.3 percent higher to 2,453.64, while the S&P 500 had gained 0.2 percent to 1,403.71.

Consolidation news was in focus. In the mining sector, Freeport-McMoran said it will purchase Phelps Dodge for $25.9 billion in cash and stock. If the deal goes through it will create the largest publicly traded copper company in the world. While Freeport-McMoran dropped 1.2 percent on the news to $56.71, Phelps Dodge added 28.3 percent to $121.87.

Nasdaq offered for the three-quarters of the London Stock Exchange that it doesn’t already own. While the London Stock Exchange rejected the offer on the basis that it “substantially undervalued“ the exchange, Nasdaq’s shares were still 1.6 percent higher to $37.15. Elsewhere in the sector, the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 2.1 percent to $135.75.

In the steel sector, Nucor added 3.4 percent to $59.04. AK Steel was 3.6 percent higher to $15.17, while Steel Dynamics gained 4.4 percent to $62.71 and US Steel was up 6.5 percent to $75.15. All had seen significant gains on Friday as well. Some of the gains came on the news that Evraz Group of Russia said that it will purchase Oregon Steel Mills for $2.3 billion. Oregon Steel Mills was 7.7 percent higher to $63.51.

The New York equities markets were mixed at midday on Thursday on new concerns that the housing market in the United States is continuing to slow. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped 0.1 percent to 12,120.19 and the S&P 500 was 0.02 percent lower to 1,381.98. The Nasdaq Composite was 0.03 percent higher to 2,375.4.

Pulte Homes reflected the slowdown in its report of a significant drop in earnings and a warning that fourth-quarter earnings will be much lower than current estimates. Pulte’s shares were 0.7 percent lower to $31.98 in the wake of new data from the Commerce Department that shows the median price of a new home down 9.7 percent in September.

Stock exchanges were also lower on the session so far. Nasdaq dropped 0.5 percent to $36.80. Meanwhile, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which has agreed to take over the Chicago Board of Trade, dropped nearly 1 percent to $492.10. The Chicago Board of Trade itself dropped even more, by 1.6 percent to $145.08. The NYSE Group, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, fell 1.7 percent to $74.10 despite reporting third-quarter profits had tripled.

In the oil sector, ExxonMobil added 0.2 percent to $71.15 on operating profits that were at $10.5 billion in the quarter, the second highest quarterly profit ever reported by a US company.

Dow Chemical gained 0.9 percent to $40.52 on higher earnings and a share buyback scheme worth $2 billion.

Among retailers, Wal-Mart also added 0.9 percent to $51.30 on the announcement that it is expanding the $4 generic prescription price it introduced in Florida to 12 more states, bringing the total number of states now included in the program to twenty-seven.

The New York equities markets were lower at mid-session on Friday, reflecting what looked to end up a losing week for everyone but the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Dow was lower by 0.1 percent at the mid-point in the day, to 11,009.19, but was on course to finish 1.1 percent higher on the week. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.6 percent on the day so far and down 0.2 percent on the week to 2,130.38. The S&P 500 was 0.5 percent lower on the day to 1,250.24, also 0.1 percent lower over the week.

Oil services companies were off for the week, as Schlumberger was down 2.3 percent to $57.88 and BJ Services also lost 2.3 percent, to $35.24.

Banks were down, as well, though not by as much as they could have been. Lehman Brothers, down by 11 percent at one point in the week, was down 4 percent to $62.97 by mid-session on Friday, and Goldman Sachs was off 4 percent to $143.94 where it had been down by as much as 8.7 percent earlier in the week. Bear Stearns was 3.1 percent lower to $132.18.

Stock exchange operators also ended the week in negative territory. Intercontinental Exchange was down 2.7 percent to $49.45, while Nasdaq lost 3.2 percent to $25.52 and NYSE Group declined by 6.4 percent to $53.50.

Ethanol producer Verasun Energy began trade on Wednesday, gaining 30 percent on its first day of availability. While it lost value on Thursday, mid-day Friday found it still 8.7 percent ahead for the week at $25.00.

Investors seemed to ignore data on inflation to send New York equities markets higher at the mid-point of the day on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.8 percent to 10,905.22, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.7 percent to 2,120.64 and the S&P 500 gained 1 percent to 1,242.29.

Banks saw gains. Goldman Sachs was up 2.7 percent to $142.26, Lehman Brothers gained 2.9 percent to $62.68, and Bear Stearns added 3.4 percent to $128.37 on a report that profits were up 81 percent in the second quarter.

With crude oil prices rising again, ConocoPhillips gained 2.3 percent to $60.81, while Anadarko Petroleum advanced by 4 percent to $47.25. Ethanol producer Verasun Energy, however, which made its trading debut Wednesday with a gain of 30 percent, dropped 9.7 percent to $27.10.

Stock exchange operators saw gains on the day. Nasdaq was up 6 percent to $26.63, while NYSE Group gained 7.1 percent to $54.50.

Construction machinery manufacturer Caterpillar added 3.9 percent to $70.11 on the news that its quarterly dividend will go up by 20 percent.

In the semiconductor sector, upgrades from “neutral” to “buy” sent both Nvidia and Sandisk higher. Sandisk gained 5 percent to $53.07, while Nvidia was up 7 percent to $21.87.

Wall Street staged a slight recovery on Wednesday morning as investors paid less attention to concerns about inflation. By the middle of the session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.6 percent to 10,764.73, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.5 percent to 2,082.01 and the S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent to 1,225.67.

With metals prices higher, miners took back some of their recent losses. Freeport McMoran and Newmont Mining each added 4 percent, to $45.50 and $49.58 respectively. Still in commodities related stocks, oil and related companies saw gains on the day. Halliburton was up 2.7 percent to $70.12, while Schlumberger gained 2.9 percent to $56.16 and Noble Corporation advanced by 3.8 percent to $65.16.

In semiconductors, upgrades from Goldman Sachs helped out both Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. AMD was up 3.2 percent to $25.18, while Intel gained 4 percent to $17.80 as it was advanced to “outperform”, from “inline”.

Also receiving an upgrade from Goldman Sachs, from “underperform” to “inline” was airplane manufacturer Boeing, which gained 5 percent to $80.74 after Airbus said it would have to delay delivery of its new A380 superjumbo jet.

Among stock exchange operators, NYSE Group was up 1.5 percent to $50.74, while Nasdaq added 4.9 percent to $25.48.

At the midway point in Friday’s session, the New York equities markets were mixed, but all were looking at losses on the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Averge was down 0.2 percent for the day so far at 10,921.61, and had lost 2.9 percent during the week. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.5 percent on the day so far, but its loss for the week stood at 3.2 percent. The S&P 500 was 0.1 percent lower for the day, at 1,256.43 and had declined 2.5 percent over the week. Sell-offs were responsible for most of the declines.

Durable goods stocks were down over the week. General Motors lost 5.1 percent to $25.15, while construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar was down 6.5 percent to $68.10.

Homebuilders were also lower over the week, with the S&P homebuilders index 6.9 percent lower. Pulte lost 10.2 percent to $28.15, while KB Homes was down 11.5 percent to $45.20 and Standard Pacific dropped 13.6 percent to $25.93.

Stock exchanges fell as well, with Nasdaq 8 percent lower at $27.62 and the NYSE Group off by 11.6 percent to $57.87.

Shares in miners lost value with the decline in metals prices. Newmont Mining lost 6.6 percent to $49.77, while Phelps Dodge was down 7.8 percent to $79.95 and Freeport McMoran dropped 12.5 percent on the week to $49.63.

The New York equities markets saw a second day of declines on Tuesday after Monday’s comments on inflation by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost 1 percent to 10,941.63. It was the first time since March that the Dow fell below the 11,000 mark. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.1 percent to 2,146.63, and has declined by 9.4 percent in less than two months. The S&P, meanwhile, was 0.8 percent lower on the day so far, to 1,255.84.

Mining stocks were down on declines in the price of gold and copper. Alcoa dropped 3.2 percent to $30.37, while Phelps Dodge was down 3.9 percent to $28.37.

Homebuilders dropped after Wachovia cut its rating on several companies from “outperform” to “market perform”. The downgrades were for Lennar, which was down 4.1 percent to $44.61; for Pulte, which dropped 6.7 percent to $27.75; and for DR Horton, which fell 7.2 percent to $23.02.

Among stock exchange operators, NYSE Group, which entered into an agreement with Euronext last week, was down 5.5 percent to $60.03 after French president Jacques Chirac said that he would rather see the Paris-based Euronext merge with Deutsche Borse, which continues to pursue such a merger. Elsewhere in the sector, Nasdaq dropped 2.5 percent to $28.37, while Intercontinental Exchange lost 3.6 percent to $49.75.

Lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac dropped 2.6 percent to $48.70 and 3.2 percent to $58.19 respectively after Credit Suisse downgraded both.

Internet search engine Google added 1.4 percent to $379.65 on the news that it will make spreadsheet software available online, possibly as a free alternative to Microsoft spreadsheet Excel.