Technology companies lift stocks, S&P 500

Technology companies helped lift stocks on Wall Street to a record high Friday.

Apple and Intel soared about 2%. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% for its third straight weekly gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.9%, setting its own record high. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.5%. Levi Strauss shares jumped after the jeans maker posted strong first-quarter results. Stocks have been edging higher most of the week as investors remain cautiously optimistic about economic growth and progress against the pandemic.

Tech stocks were among the better performers. Financial companies also rose, aided by a rise in bond yields, which

charge on mortgages and other loans. State Street was up 1.5%, while Wells Fargo rose 0.8%.

Stocks have benefited this week as bond yields, which had been steadily ticking higher, retreated from highs hit earlier in the month.

Yields resumed their rise on Friday. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which influences interest rates on mortgages and other loans, rose to 1.66% from 1.63% late Thursday. It had been as high as 1.75% on Monday.

Most analysts expect inflation to increase as the economy improves.

“We’re seeing some evidence of inflation creeping into [ the] market place, but it’s not problematic,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

Investors are showing cautious optimism about the economic recovery, especially in the U.S., where vaccine distribution has been ramping up and President Joe Biden has advanced the deadline for states to make doses available to all adults to April 19.

“There’s optimism on the horizon that overall economic growth will continue as the year unfolds,” Mr. Sandven said.