Stocks close higher, capping a 3rd straight week of gains | National News
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Currency traders watch computer monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, July 9, 2021. Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Friday after stocks pulled back from their recent record highs on Wall Street as bond yields fell and investors turned cautious.
A currency trader walks by the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, July 9, 2021. Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Friday after stocks pulled back from their recent record highs on Wall Street as bond yields fell and investors turned cautious.
A currency trader walks by the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rates at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, July 9, 2021. Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Friday after stocks pulled back from their recent record highs on Wall Street as bond yields fell and investors turned cautious.
Flags adorn the facade of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street Friday, July 9, but the market is still on track to end this holiday-shortened week lower following two weeks of gains.
Bond yields rebounded solidly and stock indexes notched new highs Friday as Wall Street closed out a choppy, holiday-shortened week of trading with the market’s third straight weekly gain.
The S&P 500 index rose 1.1% to an all-time high for the second time this week. The benchmark index more than made up for its losses a day earlier, giving it a 0.4% gain for the week. The gains were broad with about 90% of the stocks in the S&P 500 closing higher. Banks, technology companies and industrial stocks powered much of the rally.
The gains followed bursts of selling this week as bond yields fell sharply, a sign that investors might be turning cautious after a recent run of record highs for stocks. Bond yields also reversed course Friday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note jumped to 1.36% from 1.28% a day earlier.
“Today was ‘just let’s take a breath on all of this position-changing,” said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager with Globalt Investments.
The S&P 500 index rose 48.73 points to 4,369.55. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 448.23 points, or 1.3%, to 34,870.16, also a record high. The Nasdaq composite added 142.13 points, or 1%, to 14,701.92, the tech-heavy index’s third all-time high this week.
Small-company stocks did much better than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 index rose 48.33 points, or 2.2%, to 2,280.
