Investors often tread water and reassess valuations after stocks push through technical or psychological barriers, such as the Dow's ascent past 13,000 Wednesday. Beyond the Dow's move, investors were also keeping watch over the Standard & Poor's 500 index, which has in recent sessions crept closer to its high of 1,527.46, reached in March 2000.

Better-than-expected profit news, which helped vault the Dow into record territory Wednesday and to a fresh trading high early Thursday, continued but with less effect than on Wednesday.

Apple said its fiscal second-quarter profit rose 88 percent amid robust sales of iPods and Macintosh computers. Reports from Dow component 3M and automaker Ford Motor Co. also pleased investors.

The Dow swept past its latest milestone Wednesday amid better-than-expected earnings and economic data, posting its 18th rise of the past 20 trading sessions. After picking up more than 780 points in that time, the question on investors' minds is whether upcoming data will prove the steep climb was justified, or overdone.

In midmorning trading, the Dow slipped 2.92, or 0.02 percent, to 13,086.97 after hitting a fresh trading high of 13,120.53. The Dow is now up more than 5 percent on the year.

Broader indexes were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.06, or 0.20 percent, to 1,492.36, while the Nasdaq composite index climbed 0.66, or 0.03 percent, to 2,548.44.

So far, 21 of the 30 Dow components have reported earnings, with 15 of those reports exceeding expectations. Dow component Exxon Mobil Corp. released better-than-expected earnings Thursday; it rose 8 cents to $80. After the market closes, another Dow component and tech leader Microsoft Corp. will release its financial results. Microsoft rose 19 cents to $29.18.

In other corporate news, Apple's profit report beat analysts' estimates, and the stock surpassed $100 a share. Apple rose $4.92, or 5.1 percent, to $100.27.

3M reported a profit gain that was higher than Street estimates and rose $2.93, or 3.8 percent to $79.90. Ford, meanwhile, reported a narrower-than-expected loss for the first quarter. Ford rose 30 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $8.18.

Wendy's International Inc. said late Wednesday it is considering a possible sale of the company, among other options. The burger chain's stock rose $4.83, or 15 percent, to $37.51.

Thursday's schedule of economic data is light. The Labor Department reported that the applications for jobless benefits fell last week by 20,000, the largest amount in nearly two months. Later, the Kansas City and Chicago Federal Reserves release their regional manufacturing indexes. Friday will bring more weighty data for investors, who are especially interested in the Commerce Department's initial estimate of first-quarter gross domestic product.

Gold fell on Thursday, and the dollar rose slightly.

Light sweet crude fell 43 cents to $65.41 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Declining issues led advancers by more than 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 299.8 million shares.