Stocks mostly shake off a weak start

A late-afternoon burst of buying helped nudge several U.S. stock indexes to all-time highs Friday, despite a pullback in Big Tech companies as bond yields headed higher.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1% after having been in the red for most of the day. The benchmark index also notched its second straight weekly gain. Financial and industrial companies led a broad rally, outweighing the slide in technology and communications stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks also hit all-time highs for the second day in a row. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell, shedding some of its gains from a day earlier.

The bond market was the dominant force in pulling tech stocks mostly downward, because as yields push interest rates higher, they make high-flying stocks look expensive. After remaining stable for most of the week, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note jumped to 1.62% from 1.52% a day earlier. Investors had sold off stocks late last week after that yield crossed above the 1.60% mark.

“Bond investors are trying to determine how much future growth is in the economy and what that means for inflation,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance. “It could be over the course of this year or the next couple in terms of trying to find the right level.”

The S&P 500 rose 4 points to 3,943.34, extending its winning streak to a fourth straight day. The Dow added 293.05 points, or 0.9%, to 32,778.64, lifted by industrial stocks like Boeing and Caterpillar. The Nasdaq dropped 78.81 points, or 0.6%, to 13,319.86.

The Russell 2000 picked up 14.25 points, or 0.6%, to 2,352.79 and ended the week 7.3% higher. That blows away the S&P 500’s 2.6% gain for the week.