Wall Street saw gains at midday on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.35 percent to 12,520.91, the Nasdaq Composite 0.41 percent higher to 2,441.12, and the S&P 500 adding 0.34 percent to 1,427.75. The Russell 2000 index of small-caps was up even more, gaining 1.01 percent to 785.82. Volume at mid-session was at 712.8 million shares.

The banking sector was mixed. Bank of America was 40 cents lower to $53.25 even though it said its loan business was up and that its purchase of credit-card company MNBA helped profit in the fourth quarter. Wachovia was up , but only by 4 cents to $56.3 even though issued a better than anticipated report.

In the oil sector, higher prices due to forecasts of colder weather sent Chevron up 97 cents to $72.21, while ExxonMobil gained $1.12 to $74.03 and ConocoPhillips added $1.41 to $64.78.

Telecommunications equipment makers saw declines. Tellabs was 4 cents lower to $10.06, while Alcatel-Lucent fell $1.17 to $13.03. Alcatel-Lucent blamed its inability to make a profit in its first quarter after consolidation on integration costs and weak sales.

In the semiconductors sector, Texas Instruments added $1.17 to $29.76 on a positive quarterly report and several broker upgrades.

Even though it reached analysts’ expectations, chemicals company DuPont dropped $1.23 to $48.87 on concerns about the higher cost of raw materials.

By the middle of the afternoon in New York on Monday, equities markets were lower again. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off by 0.2 percent to 10,867.66, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 1.1 percent to 2,110.7 and the S&P 500 was 0.5 percent lower, to 1,245.52. In addition, the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies had lost 1.2 percent to below 700.

Broker recommendations had their effect on the day. Walt Disney was down 1.5 percent to $28.88 on a downgrade from “buy” to “hold” from Citigroup. A downgrade from Deutsche Bank, meanwhile, hurt telecommunications equipment manufacturer Tellabs, which lost 9.7 percent to $13.55. Software company Adobe added 4.2 percent to $29.17 on an upgrade from Cowen and Co.

In the banking sector, Lehman Brothers was down 4 percent to $63 even though its quarterly results were better than had been anticipated when analysts pointed out that earnings were down from its first quarter report.

Monster Worldwide, the recruitment company, lost 7.3 percent to $38.92 after it announced that is being investigated by an independent committee of directors in relation to its practices surrounding the granting of stock options.

Among gainers, General Motors added 3 percent to $26.12 on the news that Delphi, it’s largest parts supplier, had reached an agreement with the United Auto Workers concerning buy-outs for Delphi workers.