NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks were mixed Thursday afternoon, with investors unwilling to give up gains after a four-day advance that set the major gauges their highest levels since May.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 3.53 to 11,539.79, Charts) hovered just below unchanged with around 2 hours left in the session.

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The broader Standard & Poor's 500 (down 2.09 to 1,315.98, Charts) index lost about 0.1 percent. The Nasdaq composite (down 0.13 to 2,227.54, Charts) was little changed.

The recent rally left the major market gauges at four-month highs by the end of Wednesday's session. That advance left the Dow about 180 points from its record high of 11,722.98, hit on Jan. 14, 2000.

After such a run, stocks were a bit vulnerable Thursday. But the tone of trade improved as the session wore on.

Retail sales rose just 0.2 percent last month after jumping 1.4 percent in July, the government reported, as higher oil and gas prices and increased worries about the economy during the month cut into consumer spending.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought sales would fall 0.2 percent.

Sales excluding autos rose 0.2 percent in the month, after rising 1 percent in July. That was short of forecasts for a rise of 0.3 percent.

"I think the report is consistent with a moderate trend for consumer spending growth," said Joshua Shapiro, chief economist at Maria Fiorini Ramirez Inc. "July numbers were inflated by auto sales, so this number gets us closer to the broader trend."

He said that the reaction in both stock and bond markets Thursday was muted because the report doesn't shake up expectations about the economy. It also doesn't change bets that the Federal Reserve won't have to restart its rate-hiking campaign anytime soon.

Investors were also gearing up for Friday's report on consumer prices, a key reading on inflation, ahead of next week's Fed policy meeting.

Dow Components Boeing (down $0.96 to $75.36, Charts) and General Electric (down $0.20 to $34.64, Charts) both slipped after they were downgraded by UBS.

The brokerage lowered Boeing to "reduce" from "buy" on worries about how an economic slowdown will impact its orders. UBS cut GE to "neutral" from "buy," on concerns about slowing earnings at its NBC television network, higher tax rates and an eventual slowdown in aerospace orders.

Separately, GE said it was selling its advanced materials unit to private equity firm Apollo Management for $3.8 billion.

Other Dow decliners included Home Depot (down $0.23 to $36.94, Charts) and Honeywell (down $0.25 to $39.01, Charts), two of the economically sensitive issues that had risen most during the recent rally.

However, a number of Dow stocks gained, giving the blue-chip barometer some stability.

Component Microsoft (up $0.37 to $26.35, Charts) gained after it said it will debut "Zune," a rival for Apple (up $0.26 to $74.46, Charts)'s iPod.

DuPont (up $1.24 to $41.74, Charts) and AT&T (up $0.41 to $32.27, Charts) also rose.

Ford Motor (down $0.10 to $9.09, Charts) said it will make its restructuring plans public Friday morning, the automaker said. The news was announced after a Detroit News report said overall losses in 2006 could total $9 billion. Ford shares fell about 1 percent, recovering from steeper morning losses. (Is Ford a "buy"? click here)

Bear Stearns (up $0.96 to $137.18, Charts) reported higher quarterly earnings that rose from a year ago and topped estimates. After stalling in the morning, the stock moved higher in the afternoon.

XM Satellite Radio (up $0.99 to $13.50, Charts) jumped 8.2 percent in active Nasdaq trade after Credit Suisse First Boston upgraded it to "outperform" from "neutral," saying the company's recent lowering of its subscriber growth outlook makes its goals more realistic. Rival Sirius Satellite Radio (up $0.04 to $4.07, Charts) gained too.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners three to two on volume of 870 million shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers three to two on volume of 1.18 billion shares.

U.S. light crude oil for October delivery fell 67 cents to $63.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for December delivery fell $10.30 to $586 an ounce.

Treasury prices crept lower, pushing the yield on the 10-year note to 4.77 percent from roughly 4.76 percent late Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar fell against the euro and the yen.

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