Stocks slip slightly to close healthy week

Bond yields rose and stocks mostly bounced back from an early slide to finish with modest losses Friday, a downbeat end on Wall Street to an otherwise milestone-setting week for the broader market.

The small decline snapped a six-day winning streak for the S&P 500, though the benchmark index still notched a weekly gain. The S&P 500 set three straight all-time highs earlier in the week, extending the market’s solid gains in June into July. The S&P is up 19.3 percent so far this year.

The major indexes headed lower from the get-go Friday, a tumble that briefly knocked 230 points off the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Investors got rattled by government data showing an unexpected burst of hiring last month. That led traders to question whether the Federal Reserve will decide to lower interest rates this month.

The Labor Department said employers added a robust 224,000 jobs in June. The pickup in hiring could give the central bank pause this month, when its policymakers are scheduled to meet and consider cutting the Fed’s benchmark interest rate.

The S&P 500 fell 5.41 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,990.41. The Dow dropped 43.88 points, or 0.2 percent, to 26,922.12. The Nasdaq composite slid 8.44 points, or 0.1 percent, to 8,161.79. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks rose 3.50 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,575.62.

Trading volume was light as U.S. markets reopened after the Independence Day holiday.

Traders were betting Friday that a rate cut late this month may be less likely now. Investors sold bonds, sending the yield in the 10year Treasury note up to 2.04 percent from 1.95 percent late Wednesday, a big move. Bond yields fell through much of June as investors’ expectations of a Fed rate cut increased.

The jump in yields helped boost financial stocks, which led the gainers. Higher bond yields push up interest rates that banks charge on mortgages and other loans. Jefferies Financial Group climbed 3.4 percent to lead all gainers in the S&P 500.

A slight easing of trade tensions between the U.S. and China helped spur the market’s gains earlier this week. Both nations have agreed to refrain from new tariffs while they open a new round of negotiations. The development relieved some pressure on the market, though the trade war still looms over global economic growth.

Besides any developments on trade, the next major catalyst for the market will likely be the flood of earnings reports that companies are set to release in coming weeks as the second quarter reporting season begins.

Benchmark crude oil rose 17 cents to $57.51 a barrel. Brent crude oil gained 93 cents to close at $64.23 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline rose 1 cent to $1.93 per gallon. Heating oil climbed 1 cent to $1.91 per gallon. Natural gas rose 13 cents to $2.42 per 1,000 cubic feet.