The Ticker Stocks climb again

Stocks rose Thursday for their first gain in three days, even as bond yields climbed to tighten the squeeze on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 rose 29.96 points, or 0.8%, to 3,981.35 after erasing a morning loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 341.73, or 1%, to 33,003.57, while the Nasdaq composite gained 83.50, or 0.7%, to 11,462.98.

Stocks flipped from losses to gains after a Federal Reserve official made comments that raised hopes the central bank may not ramp up its fight against inflation as aggressively as feared. That countered recent talk from other officials who raised worries about much bigger increases to interest rates following several hotter-than-expected reports on the economy.

Cybersecurity strategy stresses software safety

An ambitious and wideranging White House cybersecurity plan released Thursday calls for bolstering protections on critical sectors and making software companies legally liable when their products don’t meet basic standards. The strategy document promises to use “all instruments of national power” to pre-empt cyberattacks.

The Democratic administration also said it would work to “impose robust and clear limits” on private sector data collection, including of geolocation and health information.

The strategy largely codifies work already underway during the last two years following a spate of high-profile ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure. A 2021 attack on a major fuel pipeline caused panic at the pump, resulting in an East Coast fuel shortage, and other damaging attacks made cybersecurity a national priority.