NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks inched higher Tuesday afternoon as a stronger-than-expected retail sales report and comments from Fed chief Ben Bernanke helped offset concerns that the rally has outpaced the recovery.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 34 points, or 0.4%, with around three hours left in the session. The S&P 500 (SPX) index gained 2 points or 0.2%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) gained 7 points, or 0.4%.
Stock investors took a mildly positive response to Ben Bernanke's comment that the recession is "very likely over."
Speaking at the Brookings Institution in Washington, the Federal Reserve Chairman said that the pace of the recovery will be moderate next year and that it will still feel like a weak economy for some time. His speech was essentially a retread of another recent speech and therefore had only a limited impact on the market.
Select commodity, financial and industrial stocks led the advance, including Dow components Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500), American Express (AXP, Fortune 500) and General Electric (GE, Fortune 500).
Stocks managed gains Monday, giving the major gauges a sixth up session out of the last seven. But gains were pretty mild as investors continued to worry that the economic recovery was trailing the market surge