Thursday's early afternoon trade: Wall Street holds near highs

US stock indexes held near 29-month highs on Thursday as buyers took their cues from companies reporting strong numbers, like Netflix, but the short-term technical picture suggested big gains are going to be hard to achieve.
The S&P 500 faces technical resistance near 1,300, an area where closing and session highs clustered during August 2008. Technical analysts also view 12,000 on the Dow as a possible sell trigger as the blue chip average closes in on nine straight weeks of gains.
Caterpillar shares rose 1.5 percent to $97.15 after it reported a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit. Movie rental company Netflix Inc soared 15 percent after hitting a lifetime high of $211.30 and electronics test equipment maker Teradyne Inc jumped 10.5 percent to $16.17. Both posted results Wednesday after the close. AT&T dropped 3 percent to $27.86, while P&G lost 2.9 percent to $64.17. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 11.58 points, or 0.10 percent, to 11,997.02. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 0.92 points, or 0.07 percent, to 1,297.55. The Nasdaq Composite added 11.65 points, or 0.43 percent, to 2,751.15.