U.S. stocks eke out gains by close

Investors seeking safety turn to bonds, gold and stocks that pay large dividends, such as utilities.

A late push helped U.S. stocks finish higher Friday after indexes spent most of the day lower. There was far more selling than buying on Wall Street overall, but the Dow Jones industrial average managed to extend its winning streak to an 11th day.

Energy companies and banks struggled. Investors continued to buy safer assets such as government bonds, gold and stocks that pay large dividends, such as utility and telephone companies. That has been a familiar pattern over the last few days.

After a long string of gains earlier in February, stocks wobbled this week and bond prices jumped, which sent yields down. That hurts banks by forcing rates on mortgages and other kinds of loans lower.

The Dow fell as much as 76 points Friday but recovered to gain 11.44 points, or just under 0.1 percent, to 20,821.76. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 3.53 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,367.34. Both indexes are at all-time highs. The Nasdaq composite rose 9.80 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,845.31. The Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller companies, slid 0.1 points to 1,394.52.

Bond prices sank again. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slid to 2.32 percent from 2.39 percent. Investment banks and insurers traded lower as well.

Investors bought utility stocks and phone company stocks, which pay large dividends. Gold and silver continued to rise. Gold picked up $6.90, or 0.6 percent, to $1,258.30 an ounce. Gold is trading at its highest price since just after the presidential election, though it’s down sharply from last summer. Silver added 22 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $18.34 an ounce and copper picked up 4 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $2.70 a pound after a steep loss the previous day.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 46 cents to $53.99 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the standard for pricing international oils, fell 59 cents, or 1 percent, to $55.99 a barrel in London.

Energy companies continued to trade lower. They’ve fallen sharply over the last month.

The S&P 500 energy company index is down about 7 percent this year while the broader S&P 500 is up almost 6 percent.