Stock market today: Wall Street ticks higher as pressure eases from the bond and oil markets

The S&P 500 rose 25.19 points, or 0.6%, to 4,299.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 116.07 points, or 0.3%, to 33,666.34, and the Nasdaq composite gained 108.43 points, or 0.8%, to 13,201.28. 

Still, stocks are on track for their worst month of the year.

Oil prices dropped a day after crude reached its highest price of the year. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude oil sank $1.97 to settle at $91.71. It’s still up sharply from below $70 this summer. Brent crude also fell by more than $1 per barrel.

Treasury yields also relaxed after being pushed up by the Federal Reserve raising its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001 in hopes of extinguishing high inflation. The Fed indicated last week it may cut rates by less next year than earlier expected.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed above 4.67% in the morning, near its highest level since 2007. It later fell back to 4.57%, down from 4.61% late Wednesday.

The two-year Treasury yield, which moves more on expectations for Fed action, slipped to 5.06% from 5.14%.

Yields squiggled after a batch of reports on the economy.

One said fewer workers than expected applied for unemployment benefits last week. The solid job market has prevented a recession but may be feeding upward pressure into inflation.

A separate report said the U.S. economy grew at a 2.1% annual rate during the summer, below economists’ expectations.

A 2.1% climb for Meta Platforms and 1.5% gain for Nvidia were two of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500.

Peloton Interactive jumped 5.4% after the online exercise bike and fitness company announced a five-year partnership with athletic wear maker Lululemon Athletica.

Trimble rose 6.5% after it said it will get $2 billion in cash and a 15% ownership stake in a joint venture with agricultural machinery company AGCO. AGCO rose 2.8%.

Micron Technology slumped 4.4% despite reporting better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its profitability forecast fell short of some analysts’ estimates.

Abroad, the Hang Seng fell 1.4% in Hong Kong as trading in shares of property developer China Evergrande Group was suspended. The company said authorities informed it that its chairman, Hui Ka Yan, was subjected to “mandatory measures in accordance with the law due to suspicion of illegal crimes.”

Evergrande is the world’s most heavily indebted real estate developer and is at the center of a property market crisis that is dragging on China’s economic growth.