Updated from 9:45 a.m. EST

Stocks were narrowly mixed at midmorning Thursday as traders digested the gains of the past two sessions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which finished the prior session at 12,741.86, its best-ever close, was tacking on 7 points at 12,749. The S&P 500 was down 1 point at 1454, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 1 point at 2490.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is wrapping up his congressional testimony as he addresses the House of Representatives. During his remarks Wednesday to the Senate Banking Committee, Bernanke said the central bank is comfortable with interest rates and that some tentative signs of stabilization have recently appeared in the housing market.

Those benign comments gave stocks a boost Wednesday. The industrials climbed 87.01 points, or 0.69%, and the S&P rose 11.04 points, or 0.76%, to 1455.30. The Nasdaq gained 28.50 points, or 1.16%, to 2488.38.

During the last two sessions, the Dow has surged 189 points and the Nasdaq has jumped 38.

“Mr. Bernanke’s testimony continues the incremental reduction in hawkishness evident in the past few months’ FOMC statement, though there is nothing here that could be legitimately described as outright dovish,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist with High Frequency Economics, in a written message. “We don’t think this represents a real change in stance, so the market reaction looks overdone.”

Meanwhile, the economic docket was filled to the brim. The New York Fed said its Empire State Manufacturing index unexpectedly surged to a reading of 24.4 in February, up from 9.1 in January. Economists anticipated a slight increase to a reading of 11.

Elsewhere, the Labor Department said its import price index fell 1.2% last month, mostly in line with expectations. Imported petroleum prices fell 7.3% last month, and natural gas prices tumbled by 12%. Excluding petroleum, import prices were flat for the month.

Jobless claims rose last week by a greater-than-expected 44,000 to 357,000, according to a separate report from the Labor Department. The sharp increase was blamed on inclement weather across the U.S. The less volatile four-week moving average climbed by 17,500 to 326,250.

In another report, industrial production fell 0.5% in January, well below the unchanged consensus. Capacity utilization fell to 81.2% last month from 81.8% in December, also below consensus.

Data from the Philadelphia Fed on manufacturing activity in the mid-Atlantic region are due at noon EST.

In equities, the pace of earnings reports has slowed dramatically in the last couple of weeks, but influential names continue appear. Ahead of the opening bell, oil-services outfit Baker Hughes (BHI) said its quarterly revenue rose more than 20% year over year, but profits fell short of analysts forecasts. Shares were dropping $5.99, or 8.3%, to $65.95.

As for the day’s research calls, Goldman Sachs downgraded AMR (AMR) , parent of American Airlines, but upgraded low-fare carrier JetBlue (JBLU) .

Recently, AMR was losing 2% to $37.76, while JetBlue was gaining 4.4% to $13.57.

AG Edwards raised its rating on American Eagle Outfitters (AEOS) to buy from hold, and at Prudential, Schering-Plough (SGP) was cut to neutral from overweight.

American Eagle was higher by 2.9% to $31.84, and Schering-Plough was off 1.5% to $24.40.

Treasury prices continued to rally. Recently, the 10-year note was up 10/32 in price, yielding 4.69%, and the 30-year was rising 19/32 to yield 4.80%.

Commodities were mixed. Oil futures were off 4 cents to $57.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and gold was up 30 cents at $672.30 an ounce.

Stocks slipped in Europe, but rose in Asia. London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.1% to 6417, and Frankfurt’s Xetra DAX was 0.1% weaker at 6955. Tokyo’s Nikkei was up 0.8% at 17,897, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.6% to 20,538.