In early afternoon trade in New York on Monday, equities markets were slightly ahead after last week’s declines.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3 percent to 13,278,72, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.15 percent to 2,548.6 and the S&P 500 was 0.32 percent higher to 1,458.32.

The gains came as the Federal Reserve and other central banks added more cash into their monetary systems in order to calm investor nerves about the credit market.

The New York Fed announced $2 billion in overnight repurchase agreements, while the Bank of Japan put another $5 billion into the system and the European Central Bank added another $65.3 billion.

Also helping the US markets was a new report from the Commerce Department that showed retail sales up 0.3 percent in July, a bit more than had been anticipated.

This new data left the retail sector mixed, however, with Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) up 21 cents to $46.28 but home improvement retailer Home Depot (NYSE: HD) falling 53 cents to $35.39.

Technology stocks were mostly higher in afternoon trade even though they had retreated from morning gains.

Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q) was up 19 cents to $8.56 on the news that it had named a new CEO after the retirement of its previous one.

Qualcomm (NAS: QCOM) added 96 cents to $38.85 after its general counsel resigned in the wake of legal troubles in its continuing dispute with Broadcom (NAS: BRCM), which fell 59 cents to $35.26.

Storage technology group EMC Corp (NYSE: EMC) was $1.12 higher to $18.84 as it prepared to spin off 10 percent of its Vmware storage virtualization unit.

In the subprime sector, Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co (NAS: LEND) dropped $2.76 to $6.15 after it said it had filed suit against Lone Star Fund V and two of its affiliates to try to get the private equity firm to live up to its agreement to take over the troubled mortgage lender after Lone Star said on Friday that Accredited did not meet the conditions of the offer.

Accredited said that without the takeover deal, it could have to file for bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) dropped $1.62 to $178.88.

The New York equities markets were mixed in early afternoon trade on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.02 percent higher to 12,118.91, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.4 percent to 2,342.22 and the S&P 500 was 0.1 percent lower to 1,375.57. The activity was a result of several factors, including a lack of new economic data, earnings reports that were not up to par, and unwillingness to commit ahead of the Federal Reserve’s newest interest rate decision, due Wednesday.

Texas Instruments dropped 2.9 percent to $30.97 on a quarterly report that did not meet expectations and on a disappointing prediction for fourth quarter results. Kraft Foods likewise issued a quarterly report that did not satisfy, and was in consequence 3.8 percent lower to $34.91. Even though Whirlpool’s earnings were a bit better than had been anticipated, it cut its prediction for unit shipment growth in North America. The appliance maker saw shares fall 3.9 percent to $85.86.

Not all the quarterly reports were disappointing. DuPont produced a good quarterly report and added 1.8 percent to $46.28. Lucent, which is being purchased by French telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel, added 7.7 percent to $2.52 on better than expected earnings.

Qualcomm was 3.1 percent lower to $36.91 on rumors that the patent case it filed against Nokia could be in for another look by the courts. Meanwhile, Intel added 1.1 percent to $21.69.

Amazon.com added 1.8 percent to $33.46 ahead of its quarterly report, due after the close of trade.

The New York equities markets were mixed but close to unchanged at midday on Tuesday as investors waited for the earnings season to get serious. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.1 percent lower to 11,851.89, while the Nasdaq Compsite was nearly flat - up only 0.52 of a point - to 2,312.29 and the S&P 500 had added just 0.1 percent to 1,351.50.

Homebuilders were up as JP Morgan issued upgrades on DR Horton and Toll Brothers. Horton added 5 percent to $25.04 even though it said that new home orders were down by 25 percent in its fourth quarter after JP Morgan raised its recommendation from “neutral” to “overweight”. The broker upgraded Toll Brothers from “underweight” to “neutral”, sending the homebuilder 5.5 percent higher to $30.40. The upgrades also helped KB Home, which gained 3.7 percent to $46.44 despite warning that profits in the third quarter would likely drop by 32 percent.

Supermarkets were higher as well. Safeway added 2.9 percent to $29.59, while Supervalu was 4.6 percent higher to $32.42 on better than expected third-quarters earnings and an upgraded full-year earnings forecast.

With oil prices dropping again, ethanol manufacturer Archer Daniels Midland dropped 2.3 percent to $37.60. On the other hand, Nabors Industries, the oil services group, added 5.4 percent to $29.59 on rumors that it was a buyout target.

In the semiconductors sector, Qualcomm dropped 2.8 percent to $37.27 on a ruling from a judge at the International Trade Commission that it had violated Broadcom patents on a chip and a phone. The judge did not, however, ban import of the phone as Broadcom had requested.

The New York equities markets were up slightly at midday on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average approaching its record closing high. The Dow added 0.3 percent to 11,717.01, just five points lower than its highest closing level. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 were each 0.1 percent higher to 2,260.45 and 1,337.36 respectively.

In the retail sector, Wal-Mart was 1.3 percent lower to $48.67 even though same store sales were up 1.8 percent in September, at the lower end of its expectations. Wal-Mart also announced that it will convert more positions to part-time and put a cap on salaries. Family Dollar was lower as well, dropping 1.6 percent to $28.77.

The telecommunications sector was mixed as Qualcomm and Broadcom were scheduled to enter negotiations with a San Diego judge on Wednesday over their patent dispute. Qualcom fell 3.5 percent to $35.09, while Broadcom was 3.9 percent higher to $31.53.

Harrah’s Entertainment gained 14.9 percent to $76.35 after the casino operator said that private equity groups Apollo Management and Texas Pacific had offered $15.1 billion to buy it out. The offer and the gain translated into gains elsewhere in the sector, with Wynn 3.7 percent higher to $70.94 and MGM Mirage up 4.5 percent to $41.09.

Apple Computer declined 2.6 percent to $75.02 on a downgrade from “buy” to “hold” from Citigroup, which said that Apple’s new larger-screen video iPods would probably not be available for the Christmas buying season.

Equities markets in New York were mixed on Wednesday at midday despite some good news in the form of an upwardly revised number for the gross domestic product in the second quarter. Instead of the first estimate of GDP growth of 2.5 percent in the quarter, growth was estimated to have been at 2.9 percent, fairly close to the expected 3 percent growth.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was close to flat, up only 4.32 points halfway through the session, to 11.374.26. The Nasdaq Composite was 0.3 percent higher to 2,179.51, but the S&P 500 was 0.1 percent lower to 1,303.58.

The telecommunications sector was mixed. After reporting that its third-quarter earnings were down by 50 percent, ADC Telecommunications dropped 8.3 percent to $13.53. With share values down by 40 percent so far this year, Credit Suisse reduced its recommendation on ADC from “outperform” to “neutral”. Harris, another telecoms equipment manufacturer, was 2.8 percent lower to $44.01, also after a broker downgrade. Prudential lowered their rating from “neutral weight” to “underweight.” Gainers in the telecoms sector included Qualcomm, which added 1.3 percent to $38.12. In addition, Lucent was 2.6 percent higher to $2.36.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber was up by 2.2 percent to $13.51, bringing its gains to 37 percent in just six weeks.

The oil sector was lower as crude prices declined again after this week’s inventories report showed gains in crude oil and gasoline stockpiles. Nabors Industries dropped 2.4 percent to $32.70, while Marathon Oil declined 3.6 percent to $84.70.

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 mostly down by early afternoon on Thursday despite gains in the telecommunications and metal-mining sectors. The Nasdaq Composite was about even after declines earlier in the day, at 2,338.64. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6 percent to 11,153.18 on concerns in several sectors over interest rates. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 dropped 0.1 percent after gains earlier in the day to 1,301.15.

When Morgan Stanley upped its forecast on metals prices, miners and metal companies saw gains. Phelps Dodge added 5.4 percent to $81.21 on an upgrade from “equal-weight” to “overweight”. Upgrades also took aluminium companies Alcan and Alcoa up 0.5 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively, with Alcan trading at $46.76 and Alcoa’s shares selling at $30.91.

The mobile phone portion of the telecommunications sector saw advances after Nokia said it believes that global handset sales will go up 15 percent this year. It had previously put the sales estimate at 10 percent. Nokia added 4 percent on the news, to $21.02, while Motorola gained 1.8 percent to $23.17. Texas Instruments, which makes chips for mobile phones, was up 3.1 percent to $32.97. Qualcomm advanced by 0.8 percent to $51.13.

Internet company Google, added to the S&P 500 today, dropped 2.3 percent to $385.88 on the announcement that it will issue 5.3 million new shares in association with its addition to the index. Before today’s losses, Google had added 15.5 percent since Thursday.

The New York equities markets were mixed in mid-afternoon trading on Monday. While the telecommunications equipment sector helped the Nasdaq Composite add 0.2 percent to 2,316.74, both the Down Joines Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were down on the day. The Dow had lost 0.3 percent at mid-afternoon, to 11,248.67, while the S&P was down by 0.1 percent to 1,301.31.

The telecommunications equipment makers were still being helped by the possibility of a merger between Lucent and Alcatel of France. Prudential Equity reiterated its rating of “overweight” on Lucent, which added 1.3 percent to $3.10. This advance was on top of an 8.5 percent gain Friday. Elsewhere in the sector, Qualcomm was up 1.1 percent to $49.91, while Ciena gained 1.8 percent to $55.24 and JDS Uniphase added 0.3 percent to $4.04.

The home construction sector was also up during the day. Toll Brothers gained 3.9 percent to $35.69 on an upgrade from “market perform” to “outperform” from Wachovia. Among other homebuilders, Ryland was up 1.6 percent to $71.96, while Lennar added 0.9 percent to $60.44.

The pharmaceuticals sector was mixed, as Santarus gained 5.9 percent to $6.62 on a report that the FDA had approved a new form of its heartburn drug Zegerid. On the other hand, Encysive Pharmaceuticals dropped 46.8 percent to $4.83 after the FDA asked for more trials on Encysive’s high blood pressure drug Thelin.

Elsewhere, consumer electronics retailer Circuit City received an upgrade from Lehman Brothers, sending its shares up 1.5 percent to $24.62.

Wall Street was up at midday on Thursday after new data showed the Consumer Price Index up 0.1 percent in February, around what was expected, with the core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, also up 0.1 percent, less than had been predicted. These numbers raised speculation that the Federal Reserve might end its series of interest rate hikes sooner than anticipated.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4 percent at mid-session, to 11,256.84, while the Nasdaq Composite had gained 0.2 percent to 2,316.44 and the S&P 500 had added 0.3 percent to 1,307.29.

Banks continued to issue quarterly earnings results. Bear Stearns said that it’s first quarter profits were up 36 percent to $514 million, up from $379 million in the same quarter last year. However, it had lost 0.4 percent by the middle of the day to $133.66. Elsewhere in the sector, Morgan Stanley was up 1.2 percent to $60.38 ahead of its earnings report, due next week.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, Ford Motors dropped 0.5 percent to $7.81 on a ratings downgrade from “overweight” to “underweight” from JP Morgan, which cited increasing competition from General Motors as its rationale for cutting Ford’s rating.

Upgrades helped out other companies in other sectors. In the telecommunications sector, Qualcomm added 2.3 percent to $50.97 on an upgrade from “neutral” to “buy” from Merrill Lynch. Among other companies that benefited from upgrades were food packaging manufacturer Bemis, which gained 6.6 percent to $33.11 and chipmaker LSI Logic, up 5.9 percent to $11.45. American Power Conversion, which makes computer parts, added 6.9 percent to $22.36.

Bookseller Barnes & Noble advanced by 11.3 percent to $48.11 after it’s fourth quarter profits beat expectations on Christmas sales.