Thursday's early afternoon trade: stocks advance on retailers, banks

US stocks advanced on Thursday, reversing declines from the previous session after some positive data on the labour market and solid monthly sales from retailers encouraged buying. But gains were muted as this year's rally, which has pushed major indices to multi-year highs, has left some investors leery of a pullback.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 47.71 points, or 0.37 percent, to 12,998.78. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 7.99 points, or 0.59 percent, to 1,373.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 23.54 points, or 0.79 percent, to 2,990.47. Volume was a modest 3.22 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq, and the CBOE Volatility index dropped 5.3 percent, indicating a level of complacency. The S&P 500 has risen 9.3 percent so far this year, while the Dow has gained 6.4 percent and the Nasdaq has climbed 14.8 percent.