Investors cautious amid heady gains in stock prices

Wall Street is poised to take a breather Thursday as investors weigh recent gains that have lifted stock indexes to their highest levels so far this year. U.S. investors' cautiousness was apparent Wednesday after the benchmark Dow Jones industrial average gained less than half a percent to end the day at 9543.52.

Stocks to watch today include luxury home-builder Toll Brothers (TOL), which reported Thursday morning a much larger quarterly loss of $472.3 million, or $2.93 a share, compared to a loss of $29.3 million, or 18 cents a share, a year ago. Included in the current quarter loss was a $439.4 million non-cash deferred tax allowance and write-downs totaling $115 million. Last year's results included write-downs of $139.4 million. New home buyers wait-and-see attitudes took a toll on the company's revenues, which fell 42 percent to $461.3 million. But the company said it sees signs of stabilization in the housing market. The company is scheduled to discuss its fiscal third-quarter results in a conference call at 2 p.m. ET.