US stocks advanced slightly in volatile trading on Friday after results from the European banks' stress tests came out slightly better than expected. Wall Street started off higher, boosted by strong earnings from Google and Citigroup but soon gave up gains on concerns over the European banks' stress tests.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 3.82 points, or 0.03 percent, at 12,440.94. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 2.76 points, or 0.21 percent, at 1,311.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 18.95 points, or 0.69 percent, at 2,781.62. But the CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, still hovered above 20, even though it was down 1.6 percent for the day.