Sector roundup: National banks, Internet

Among the sector activity stories for Wednesday, July 23, from AP Financial News:

NEW YORK (AP) _ Shares of national banks mostly rose Wednesday, despite Washington Mutual Inc. and Wachovia Corp. reporting wider-than-expected second-quarter losses a day earlier.

NEW YORK (AP) _ Shares of big Internet companies, including Yahoo Inc. and online search leader Google Inc., inched higher Wednesday even though Yahoo's second-quarter profit fell shy of Wall Street's expectations.

CHICAGO (AP) _ Shares of The Home Depot Inc. and Lowe's Cos. climbed Wednesday after an analyst maintained his ratings on the home improvement retailers, despite lower expectations for same-store sales.

NEW YORK (AP) _ Shares of big-format discount retailers declined on Wednesday after Costco Wholesale Corp. forecast earnings below Wall Street expectations.

NEW YORK (AP) _ Semiconductor stocks, led by STMicroelectronics NV, gained some ground Wednesday after a sharp decline a day earlier fueled by worries over the memory chip sector and disappointing earnings from Texas Instruments Inc.