On Wall Street Tuesday the equities markets were a bit higher at midday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.1 percent higher to 12,778.87. The Nasdaq had added 0.4 percent so far on the session to 2,506.20, while the S&P 500 was up 0.2 percent to 1,458.13.

Oil and related sectors were lower after weather reports sent crude oil prices down. ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) dropped 0.7 percent to $74.76. Meanwhile, oil services group Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI) fell 3 percent to $63.77.

In the airlines sector, JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) was 5.1 percent lower to $12.86 on a broker downgrade after the air carrier said that weather disruptions to its schedule that left some passengers stranded on planes on the ground for several hours could cost it as much as $30 million.

Retailers were mixed. Home Depot (NYSE: HD) dropped 0.1 percent to $41.40 after bigger losses earlier in the session. It reported that the weak US housing market had meant quarterly profits were down by 28 percent. Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), however, reported better than anticipated quarterly numbers and added 2.8 percent to $49.83.

News that satellite radio providers Sirius (NAS: SIRI) and XM (NAS: XMSR) have proposed a merger sent both companies higher even though it is not clear that regulators will actually allow such a merger to take place. Sirius added 8.1 percent to $4, while XM was up 11.6 percent to $15.59.

The New York equities markets were lower at midday on Thursday after new data on retail sales renewed fears of rising inflation among investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.3 percent lower to 11,513.46, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.1 percent to 2,225.89 and the S&P 500 dropped 0.2 percent to 1,314.98.

Several sectors were affected by the International Monetary Fund’s lowered forecast for US growth in 2007, based on the slowing housing market. Homebuilder DR Horton saw its shares drop 2.6 percent to $23.03, while toolmaker Black and Decker was 1.8 percent lower to $79.96 and home improvement retailer Home Depot declined by 1.5 percent to $36.61.

Other decliners included Ford Motor, which dropped 1.9 percent to $9.02 on rumors that the carmaker could have a pre-tax loss of $8 billion this year.

Satellite radio, however, saw gains. Sirius Satellite Radio was 2.5 percent higher to $4.13 following gains by XM Satellite Radio on an upgrade from “netural” to “outperform” from Credit Suisse. XM was 11 percent higher to $13.88 on the upgrade.

Microsoft added 1.2 percent to $26.30 after it said its Zune digital music player will be available during the upcoming Christmas shopping season. Zune is being marketed as an alternative to Apple’s iPod.

US homebuilders were hit by news that existing home sales were down in July to their lowest level in over two years, sending the New York equities markets lower at midday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.4 percent lower at mid-session, to 11,300.06, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.6 percent to 2,137.25 and the S&P 500 had declined by 0.4 percent to 1,293.68.

With new home sales data due out later in the day, Pulte was 2.3 percent lower to $28.45, while KB Home had dropped 4.8 percent to $41.13.

Also on the losing side was XM Satellite Radio. After gains on Tuesday on a broker upgrade, XM was down 4.6 percent to $12.90. Campbell Soup was also lower at mid-session, dropping 2.8 percent to $36.81 after Prudential downgraded the foods company from “neutral weight” to “underweight”.

Ford Motor added 5.1 percent to $7.80 on talk that Bill Ford had spoken to the head of Nissan and Renault about a possible co-operation deal if a deal with General Motors falls through.

The semiconductor sector was up, with Advanced Micro Devices adding 1.1 percent to $25.14 and National Semiconductor up 2.4 percent to $23.13 even though it lowered its revenue prediction for the current quarter.

The New York equities markets were higher at midday on Tuesday on speculation that interest rates have finally finished rising and might even start to decline. At mid-session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.2 percent to 11,361.54, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.5 percent higher to 2,158.54 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.3 percent to 1,301.11.

In the semiconductor sector, Jabil Circuit was 2.4 percent higher to $27.88, to a total rise of 27 percent in the past month. It had previously fallen 50 percent from March until a month ago. Advanced Micro Devices added 6.3 percent to $24.87 on an optimistic market share forecast by a company official.

Internet search engine Yahoo was 1.5 percent higher to $29.32, while online auctioneer Ebay was up 3.9 percent to $27.79. Among computer makers, Apple Computer advanced by 2.2 percent to $68.04.

Satellite radio providers were up after Bear Stearns upgraded XM Satellite Radio from “underperform” to “outperform”. XM added 13.2 percent to $12.72 on the upgrade. Sirius Satellite Radio also benefited from the news, gaining 3.9 percent to $4.04.

Toll Brothers was up 4.4 percent to $25.87 even though the homebuilder reported a 19 percent drop in profits in its third quarter due to declines in the US housing market. The lower profits were about where they had been expected to be.