Stocks mostly rise; bond yields drop

U.S. stocks closed mostly higher Thursday after a wave of selling late in the session erased much of the day’s gains.

Gains in industrial companies and other sectors outweighed losses in banks and healthcare stocks. Energy companies rose after crude oil prices recovered from an early slide.

Bond yields declined after surging to four-year highs a day earlier amid rekindled fears of higher inflation and interest rates.

The major U.S. stock indexes are on track to close lower for the week.

“Volatility is back, and I actually would argue that it’s a healthier state of affairs,” said Erik Wytenus, global investment specialist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. “The constant melt-up that we saw in 2017 is actually quite historically abnormal.”

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.92% from 2.95%.

Higher yields generally hurt stock prices by making bonds more appealing to investors. They also make it costlier to borrow money.

Industrial stocks posted solid gains. United Technologies rose 3.3% to $133.58 after its chief executive said management is looking into the possibility of splitting up the conglomerate into three businesses.

Chesapeake Energy was the biggest gainer in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, soaring 21.7% to $3.20.

Avis Budget Group jumped 13.5% to $44.20 after the car rental company posted earnings.

Roku slumped 17.7% to $42.05 after the video streaming device company’s guidance disappointed.

Pandora Media tumbled 7.2% to $4.52 after its firstquarter revenue guidance fell short of forecasts.

Green Dot leaped 10% to $66.30 after the Pasadena issuer of prepaid debit cards posted quarterly results.

Financial stocks lagged the most.

Benchmark U.S. crude rose $1.09 to $62.77 a barrel. Brent crude rose 97 cents to $66.39 a barrel. Heating oil rose 2 cents to $1.95 a gallon. Wholesale gasoline rose a penny to $1.77 a gallon. Natural gas fell 3 cents to $2.63 per 1,000 cubic feet.

The dollar slid to 106.64 yen from 107.78 yen. The euro rose to $1.2329 from $1.2300.

Gold rose 60 cents to $1,332.70 an ounce. Silver fell 3 cents to $16.59 an ounce. Copper rose 3 cents to $3.24 a pound.