S&P 500’s rise caps 4th quarterly gain in a row

Wall Street closed out March with a mostly higher finish for U.S. stock indexes and the market’s fourth consecutive quarterly gain.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4% Wednesday, bringing its gain for the first three months of the year to 5.8%, despite a loss for January.

The gain for the benchmark index, which tracks large U.S. companies, was eclipsed by the 12.4% jump in a popular index that tracks small-company stocks.

Technology stocks powered much of S&P 500’s latest gains, even though more stocks in the index fell than rose. Solid gains by Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia, and companies that rely on consumer spending, outweighed a pullback in financial, energy and materials stocks.

After the stock market closed, President Joe Biden discussed his plan to spend $2 trillion on strengthening the nation’s infrastructure, and how to pay for it.

The S&P 500 rose 14.34 points to 3,972.89. It was the index’s first gain since it set a record high at the end of last week.

A late-afternoon fade pulled the Dow Jones Industrial Average 85.41 points lower, or a drop of 0.3%, to 32,981.55.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 201.48 points, or 1.5%, to 13,246.87.

Stocks of smaller companies once again posted a strong showing.

The stocks have outpaced the broader market on rising expectations for the economy.

The Russell 2000 index rose 24.72 points, or 1.1%, to 2,220.52. It ended the quarter with a 12.4% gain, more than double that of the big stocks in the S&P 500.

Tech stocks and companies expected to deliver big growth in the future were big winners. Apple climbed 1.9%, and Tesla rose 5.1%. It’s a reprieve for the group, which led the market earlier in the pandemic but has since lost momentum amid a sharp rise in Treasury yields.

The 10-year Treasury yield inched up to 1.74%, though it remains close to its highest level since before the pandemic rocked markets a year ago.