Wall Street was mixed at midday on Friday after strong gains early in the week. Mid-session found the Dow Jones Industrial Average even for the day but 1.9 percent higher on the week at 11,723.10. The Nasdaq Composite was 0.1 percent higher on the day and 2.4 percent higher for the week at 2,272.52, while the S&P 500 was essentially flat on the day, down by only 0.4 points, but 1.8 percent higher on the week to 1,338.74.

With Friday’s session marking the end of the quarter, the Dow was up 5.1 percent for the third quarter and 9.4 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Nasdaq saw a quarterly gain of 4.6 percent but was only 3 percent higher for the year to date, and the S&P added 5.4 percent over the quarter and 7.2 percent so far this year.

The semiconductors sector was mixed on the week, with big gains and big losses. Intel was 9.2 percent higher on the week to $20.82 after a court victor over Advanced Micro Devices and the announcement that it will start shipping microprocessors with four cores in November. Broadcom added 9.8 percent to $30.57 even though it is in the middle of a patent dispute with Qualcomm. On the other hand, PMC-Sierra dropped 6.6 percent to $6.04 on weak demand that spurred a decreased revenues forecast.

Among internet companies, Ebay was 9.9 percent higher to $28.69 on rumors that Microsoft was set to purchase the online auction site and on an increased third-quarter revenues estimate from Goldman Sachs.

General Motors was 8.6 percent higher this week to $33.24 on speculation that Kirk Kerkorian’s investment group might add to its 10 percent stake in the carmaker and on talks between GM, Nissan and Renault concerning possible cooperation.

Wall Street was up at midday on Friday and looked to be ready to end the week at its highest levels in three months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.7 percent higher on the day so far and 1.6 percent higher for the week to 11,465.51. The Nasdaq Composite had added 0.5 percent on the day and 2 percent on the week to 2,194.21, while the S&P 500 was 0.6 percent higher to mid-session and up 1.2 percent on the week to 1,310.94.

The semiconductors sector saw significant gains during the week. Intel added 5.3 percent to $19.90 on an upgrade from “market perform” to “outperform” from Friedman Billings Ramsey. Meanwhile, LSI Logic gained 8 percent to $0.86 and PMC Sierra was 9.8 percent higher to $6.73.

Retailers were also up. Discount retailer Family Dollar was up by 10.8 percent to $26.12 on higher than anticipated sales in August and an improved fourth-quarter guidance. Nordstrom had its best week in more than a year, adding 11.7 percent to $38.02.

Internet stocks did well. Ebay was 11.1 percent higher to $28.11 on an announcement of an advertising agreement with Google. Amazon gained 12.8 percent to $31.63.

Losers on the week included the oil and telecommunications equipment sectors. Ciena, which manufactures networking equipment, dropped 4.6 percent to $3.95, while JDS Uniphase was 11.2 percent lower to $2.29.

In the oil sector, Marathon Oil fell 8.5 percent to $84.26, while Sunoco dropped 6.4 percent to $72.39.

The New York equities markets were lower at midday on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average unmoved for the day so far at 11,332.32, the Nasdaq Composite 0.4 percent lower to 2,149.10, and the S&P 500 down 0.1 percent to 1,296.38. The declines, however, could not erase the weeks gains and at mid-session the Dow stood up 2.2 percent on the week, while the Nasdaq was 4.4 percent higher and the S&P stood 2.3 percent above where it began the week.

The oil sector did not help the weeks gains, although dropping oil prices had a positive effect on investor sentiment. Among oil companies, Valero Energy was 5.5 percent lower on the week to $61.27 and Hess dropped 6.7 percent to $48.44.

Computer makers saw advances, although Dell was only 0.2 percent higher for the week at $21.12 at the middle of Friday’s session, having lost the 8 percent it had gained during the week after the company reported that its second-quarter earnings had fallen by 51 percent. In addition, it was revealed that the Securities and Exchange Commission has been investigating Dell for the past year in connection with its accounting practices. Elsewhere in the sector, Hewlett-Packard added 7.4 percent over the week, to $35.50, on the strength of a better than expected earnings report and the announcement of a share buyback.

Semiconductors also had a good week. Intel was 5.6 percent higher to $18.38, while Broadcom added 17 percent to $29.29. Advanced Micro Devices rode a Citibank upgrade from “hold” to “buy” to an 18.5 percent advance to $23.43. PMC-Sierra gained 24.3 percent over the week to $6.29.

Wall Street was working on a fourth day of gains in a row at midday on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.3 percent higher to 11,359.86, the Nasdaq Composite added 0.7 percent to 2,163.75, and the S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent to 1,298.22.

The semiconductor sector was up as Advanced Micro Devices was 7.7 percent higher to $24.31 on an upgrade from Citigroup, which upped the chipmaker’s recommendation from “hold” to “buy” after reports that Dell is poised to use more AMD chips in its computers. PMC-Sierra gained 8.4 percent to $6.62 said it had not uncovered any deliberate misconduct by its employees in relation to the granting of stock options.

Computer maker Hewlett-Packard added 4.3 percent to $35.92 when it announced that it would conduct a $6 billion share buy-back. HP’s earnings in its third quarter were above analyst estimates.

Ebay, which has been seeing losses this year, was 5.8 percent higher at mid-session, to $27.32.

The oil sector declined as crude oil prices dropped again, as ConocoPhillips dropped 0.8 percent to $66.20 and Valero Energy declined by 2.7 percent to $61.30.

Retailer Sears Holdings was 4.2 percent lower to $143.77 even though it said its quarterly earnings had gone up by 83 percent. Investors were concerned about slowing sales.

The New York equities markets were higher by midday on Wednesday as new economic data showed that inflation is not growing as quickly as anticipated. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were 0.4 percent higher at mid-session, to 11,279.17 and 1,290.83 respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.7 percent to 2,129.77.

The semiconductor sector saw gains, with the Philadelphia Stock Exchange’s semiconductor index up over 7 percent since the beginning of the week. Broadcom was 5.7 percent higher to $29.49 after the announcement that the International Trade Commission has extended an investigation into patent infringement by Qualcomm. Despite the continued investigation into the allegations, however, Qualcomm was up 3 percent to $36.51 on comments from Merrill Lynch.

Elsewhere in the sector, PMC-Sierra added 6.1 percent to $5.92 on the news that a company in Taiwan said it would use PMC processors in its internet telephone service, while Xilinx gained 7.5 percent to $22.19 after it said Tuesday night that it had found no evidence of fraud in its practices of granting stock options.

Homebuilders were higher even though new housing starts were down in July. DR Horton was up by 3.3 percent to $21.38, while Toll Brothers gained 3.5 percent to $25.39 and Pulte added 4.3 percent to $29.56, all helped by falling yields on 10-year bonds.

Coal stocks were up on comments by a stock commentator, with Arch Coal 4.3 percent higher to $36.19 and Peabody Energy up by 6 percent to $47.38.

The New York equities markets were generally lower by midday on Friday as the Labor Department released new data showing that fewer jobs were created in the US in June than had been predicted. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.7 percent to 11,149.50, a drop of 0.1 percent on the week. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.4 percent to 2,146.83, a decline of 1.2 percent over the week. The S&P 500 was nearly even, having lost only 1.16 points to 1,272.92, leaving it with a gain of 0.2 percent on the week.

The news that only 121,000 jobs had been created in the US in June was a disappointment after a gain of 200,000 had been predicted. The high expectations had been raised by Wednesday’s National Employment Report from payroll services company ADP, which said that 368,000 new jobs had been created during June. The Labor Department numbers, along with figures showing that higher than expected wage inflation during the month, made investors nervous.

Ebay dropped 7.9 percent to $26.99, largely on a downgrade from Citigroup, which lowered its target share price on the online auctioneer by over 20 percent to $40 earlier in the week. In addition, Ebay said that it was installing new senior executives in several divisions.

Changes in personnel also led to a decline for PMC Sierra in the semiconductors sector, as the chipmaker declined by 18.4 percent to $7.67 after it said its chief financial officer is leaving the company.

Climbing oil prices led to advances in the oil sector. ConocoPhillips added 4.9 percent during the week to $68.74, while Marathon Oil was up 5 percent to $87.50.

Also up on higher commodities prices was Newmont Mining, which was up 4.4 percent to $55.25.

Tobacco companies also saw gains on the week after the Florida Supreme Court set aside a $145 billion dollar punitive damages award against the US tobacco industry. Reynolds American added 1.6 percent to $117.19, while Altria gained 5.5 percent to $77.45.