Indexes seesaw on conflicting indicators

Investors rode out another turbulent day on Wall Street on Thursday that kept stock indexes flipping between gains and losses until a late-day bounce gave the market a modest gain.

Worries about a possible recession collided with hopes that the strongest part of the U.S. economy — shoppers spending at stores and online — can keep going.

The major U.S. stock indexes spent much of the day reacting to big moves in U.S. government bond yields, which fell sharply in the early going, fluctuated for much of the day, and then recovered some of their decline by mid-afternoon.

U.S. government bonds have been among the loudest and earliest to cry out warnings about the economy. Stocks fell sharply Wednesday after a fairly reliable warning signal of recession emerged from the bond market. Even after the slide in yields eased Thursday, the U.S. bond market continued to show concern as yields ended broadly lower.

There were signs of hope for consumer spending in a government report showing that retail sales across the country last month rose more than economists expected.

Buoyed by its own promising results, Walmart surged 6.1%. Procter & Gamble rose 1.4%, and Coca-cola gained 1.7%.

Cisco Systems plunged 8.6% for one of the sharpest losses in the S&P 500 after the technology giant gave a profit forecast that fell short of some analysts' expectations.

General Electric sank 11.3% on news that the industrial conglomerate is being accused of hiding its financial problems by Harry Markopolos, the prominent whistleblower known for outing Bernie Madoff.