Wall Street edges up; Treasury yields slow their rise

Stocks closed mixed on Wall Street after major indexes spent the day drifting up and down, not far off the record highs they reached last week.

The S&P 500 edged 0.2% higher thanks in large part to gains from several Big Tech companies including Apple and Amazon, even though most stocks in the index fell.

Small-company stocks edged lower after posting big gains in the first week of the year.

Treasury yields stalled following a rapid rise over the past few weeks. The benchmark 10year yield dipped as concerns calmed that the Federal Reserve may curtail its purchases of Treasurys.

“What we saw starting on Monday is just some exhaustion on part of the rally,” said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab. “It’s a necessity to some degree of going through some period of consolidation.”

Markets around the world have rushed higher recently on building optimism that a healthier economy is on the way because of the rollout of coronavirus vaccines and the prospect for more stimulus from a U.S. government soon to be run by Democrats.

Some of the biggest action has been in the bond market, where expectations for increased federal borrowing, economic growth and inflation have pushed longer-term Treasury yields to their highest levels since last spring.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury slowed its ascent, though, and dipped to 1.10% from 1.12% late Tuesday. Analysts said statements from two Federal Reserve officials a day earlier helped to calm concerns that it may curtail its purchases of Treasurys. Those purchases have helped keep rates low in hopes of boosting financial markets and the economy.