Here's where markets stand at mid-day:

-NYSE up 56.10 (+0.7%) to 8,118.74

-DJIA up 26.11 (+0.22%) to 11,849.81

-S&P 500 up 5.82 (+0.46%) to 1,282.42

-Nasdaq up 4.81 (+0.18%) to 2,692.09

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

Hang Seng down 0.72%

Nikkei down 1.18%

FTSE down 0.31%

MID-DAY NYSE INDEX WATCH

NYSE Energy up 1.55% at 13,233.60

NYSE Financial up 0.82% at 5,115.34

NYSE Health Care up 0.36% at 6,502.22

NYSE Arca Tech 100 up 0.22% at 1,105.54

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) MEE (+9.8%) sold for $69.33 per share.

(+) SLAB (+1.7%) upgraded.

(+) XOM (+1.1%) beats with earnings.

(+) DEPO (+33.7%) jumps on drug approval.

(+) ICO (+3.5%) gains on deal speculation.

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) HD (-0.03%) upgraded.

(-) ANR (-7.7%) buying Massey.

(-) CVS (-1.2%) downgraded.

(-) BGP (-12.8%) to protect liquidity by delaying payments.

(-) LOW (-1.7%) downgraded.

MARKET DIRECTION

Stocks are moderately higher in mid-day trading as investors see encouraging signs in both consumer and business spending that the economy is continuing to mend, although continuing unrest in Egypt is tempering gains.

In the latest economic data, January's Chicago Purchasing Mangers index rose more than expected. The index climbed to 68.8 in January from 66.8 in December, indicating another month of expansion, though at a faster pace. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a reading of 65 in January.

Before the bell, the Commerce Department said spending increased a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in December. That was better than expectations. At the same time, income rose 0.4% in December for the second straight month. The savings rate fell to 5.3% in December from 5.5% in November.

In company news:

Massey Energy ( MEE ) is up over 10% while Alpha Natural Resources ( ANR ) loses ground. Alpha Natural Resources will acquire Massey Energy for 1.025 shares of ANR common stock and $10 in cash for each share of Massey Energy common stock. Based on the closing share price of Alpha Natural Resources common stock as of January 28, the agreement placed a value of $69.33 per share of Massey Energy.

Shares of Genzyme ( GENZ ) are higher after the company said ongoing discussions with Sanofi-Aventis ( SNY ) have progressed to the point where Genzyme's board has authorized the company to enter into a confidentiality agreement with Sanofi in order to allow SNY to conduct due diligence. These discussions have focused to a significant degree on the potential use of a contingent value right for alemtuzumab as a part of a potential resolution of the differences in valuation between the parties, and the parties have also discussed other potential terms for a negotiated transaction.

Intel ( INTC ) shares are lower after it says it found a design issue in a recently released support chip, the Intel 6 Series, code-named Cougar Point, and has implemented a silicon fix. In some cases, the Serial-ATA (SATA) ports within the chipsets may degrade over time, potentially impacting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD-drives.

Shares of Borders Group (BGP) are sharply lower after the bookstore chain announced it will delay payments to certain parties, such as vendors, landlords and others, scheduled for the end of January. The company hopes that the delay will help it to maintain while it seeks to complete a refinancing or restructuring of its existing credit facilities and other obligations. The company has received a conditional commitment from GE Capital, Restructuring Finance for a $550 million senior secured credit facility.

Shares of Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) are higher after the company said it bought Taligen Therapeutics, with an upfront cash payment of $111 million. Additional contingent payments would be earned upon reaching various clinical efficacy and product approval milestones in both the US and European Union for up to six products.

Shares of Google (GOOG) are down after the company said its Android became the most popular smartphone platform in 2010 Q4, dethroning Nokia's (NOK) Symbian for the first time in 10 years. That's according to research firm Canalys, which reported phonemakers sold 32.9 million Android-equipped phones in the quarter, compared with Symbian's 31 million. Another report from market research Strategy Analytics shows that Google's Android also narrowed the lead of Apple (AAPL) in the tablet PC market. Android had 22% of global tablet PC shipments, which is up 2.3%. IPad accounted for 75% of PC shipments.

Shares of Citigroup (C) and UBS AG (UBS) are mixed as Bloomberg reports that the Government of Singapore Investment Corp., which is the largest UBS and Citigroup investor, said it will hold stakes in both banks for "many years." The comments in the report came from Tony Tan, who is the deputy chairman of the Singapore-based wealth fund.

In the latest earnings news:

--Darden Restaurants (DRI) says it sees Q3 EPS from continuing operations between $1.04 to $1.06, better than the Thomson Reuters mean for $1.01. It also expects diluted net EPS from continuing operations for fiscal 2011 to grow 17% to 18% from 2010. Estimates are for $3.34 per share and is up from prior guidance.

--Exxon Mobil (XOM) shares are higher after the company reported Q4 EPS of $1.85, which topped the $1.27 reported in the year-ago quarter and tops the Street estimate for $1.62. The gain is based on higher prices and increased production, the AP says. It's the highest profit since Q3 2008. Revenue increased 17 percent to $105 billion. The Street expected $99.1 billion.

--Gannett (GCI) said Q4 EPS, less items, were $0.83, more than the Thomson Reuters mean for $0.80. Sales were $1.461615 billion, just below estimates for $1.47376 billion.

--Shares of Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc. (WDR) are higher as the investment firm reported 2010 Q4 net income of $46.4 million, or $0.54 per diluted share, compared to net income of $40.5 million, or $0.47 per diluted share, in the previous quarter. That's higher than the mean analyst estimate of $0.49 per diluted share on MarketWatch. Sales during the quarter totaled $5.6 billion, an increase of 21% quarter-on-quarter.

Commodities are mixed. April gold contracts are down $11, or 0.83%, to $1,331 an ounce while March crude oil contacts are up 0.77%, or $0.68, at $90.02 a barrel.

In energy ETFs, the United States Oil Fund (USO) is up 0.77% to $37.87 and the United States Natural Gas fund (UNG) is up 1.11% to $5.95.

In precious metal ETFs, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) is down 0.31% to $129.87. Market Vectors Gold Miners (GDX) is down 0.79% to $53.77. iShares Silver Trust (SLV) is up 0.59% to $27.46.