Stocks edge higher, regrouping after a weekly loss

A late-afternoon burst of buying helped stock indexes close mostly higher on Wall Street on Monday, snapping a five-day losing streak for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.

The benchmark index shook off an afternoon slump to finish 0.2% higher. Banks, energy companies and communication stocks accounted for much of the index’s broad gains. Healthcare and utility stocks fell. The S&P 500 was coming off its biggest weekly drop since June.

The price of U.S. crude oil rose 1% and crossed back above $70. Natural gas prices jumped 5.9% and are at their highest levels since the middle of 2014. The solid gains helped lift energy stocks, including a 2.6% rise for Exxon Mobil and a 7.2% jump for Marathon Oil.

“Investors are still looking to hang their hats on more outsized or more significant news relating to the economic recovery,” said Greg Bassuk, chief executive of Axs Investments.

The S&P 500 rose 10.15 points to 4,468.73. The index is just 1.5% below the all-time high it set Sept. 2.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 261.91 points, or 0.8%, to 34,869.63, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 9.91 points, or 0.1%, to 15,105.58.

Bond yields edged lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.32% from 1.34% late Friday.

Several key pieces of news helped lift some companies and sectors.

Spirit AeroSystems, which is a key parts supplier to Boeing, rose 4.7% after the announcement of more government support for the industry. The Biden administration is making $482 million available to aviation industry manufacturers to help them avert job or pay cuts in the pandemic. Parker Hannifin rose 1.9%.

Kansas City Southern rose 0.5% and Canadian Pacific was flat after Kansas City said a $31-billion bid from rail company Canadian Pacific is superior to a rival one from Canadian National.

The Labor Department will release its consumer price index for August on Tuesday, which will give investors another update on inflation as businesses and consumers face higher prices because of supply constraints.

On Thursday, the Commerce Department will release retail sales data for August.