Led by tech rally, stocks post gains

U.S. stocks made solid gains Thursday as Apple and Qualcomm led a technology-sector rally. Drugmakers and health insurers also rose.

Technology stocks edged higher after a four-day losing streak last week, their longest since April. Investors worried about the prospect of heavier regulation for companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 15.26 points, or 0.5%, to 2,904.18. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 147.07 points, or 0.6%, to 26,145.99. The Nasdaq composite climbed 59.48 points, or 0.7%, to 8,013.71. The Russell 2000 index slipped 1.38 points, or 0.1%, to 1,714.32.

Apple climbed 2.4% to $226.41 after losing ground Wednesday, and Qualcomm rose 4% to $74.61 after it announced it was moving ahead with a plan to buy back shares. Other chipmakers also rose after a steep drop the day before.

Insurance companies reversed their recent losses, and home improvement retailers slipped as Hurricane Florence weakened somewhat. The storm is expected to reach the East Coast on Friday, but investors figure it won’t do as much damage as previously estimated. RenaissanceRe jumped 2.7% to $130.95. Everest Re climbed 3.1% to $220.69.

Kroger, whose supermarket chains include Ralphs and Food 4 Less, dropped 9.9% to $28.58 after its sales fell short of forecasts.

The Department of Labor said its consumer price index edged up 0.2% in August and has risen 2.7% over the last year — a bit slower than July’s year-over-year gain. Investors have worried that faster inflation could threaten economic growth.

Cable channel operator Discovery rose 3.7% to $31.84, adding to its Wednesday gain of 7.7%. It climbed after announcing a deal that will make more of its programming available on the streaming service Hulu.

This month, there will be a shift in the way the S&P 500 is divided. Currently, the index has 11 industrial sectors that track industries such as energy and healthcare. Before the start of trading Sept. 24, some companies will be moved out of the tech sector and into a new group called “communications services.” The new group will include Facebook, Netflix, Alphabet and Twitter, as well as media companies such as Disney; telecom firms such as AT&T, which recently bought Time Warner; and video game makers such as Activision Blizzard.

Benchmark U.S. crude slid 2.5% to $68.59 a barrel. Brent crude slid 2% to $78.18 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline fell 2.1% to $1.99 a gallon. Heating oil fell 1.5% to $2.22 a gallon. Natural gas fell 0.4% to $2.82 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.97% from 2.96%.