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BUSINESS A25
Saturday 4 March 2017
Banks, health care companies lead stocks slightly higher
tend to lose favor among is some risk of a pullback,”
said Randy Frederick, vice
yield-seeking investors president of trading and
derivatives at the Schwab
when interest rates rise. Center for Financial Re-
search. “I wouldn’t say it’s
“If yields are going up you likely to approach anything
close to a correction, or a
don’t need to buy those 10 percent pullback. Long-
term, we continue to think
stocks to get your yield, you we’re solidly in a bull mar-
ket.” Airlines were among
just buy 10-Year Treasury the stocks that notched sol-
id gains Friday. American
notes,” said John Canally, Airlines Group rose $1.10, or
2.4 percent, to $46.82, while
chief economic strategist Alaska Air Group added
$2.58, or 2.7 percent, to
for LPL Financial. $98.94. United Continental
picked up $2.31, or 3.2 per-
Bond prices were little cent, to $75.59. Disappoint-
ing company earnings and
changed after pulling back outlooks pulled down sev-
eral stocks.
from an early climb. The Costco fell $7.72, or 4.3 per-
cent, to $170.26. Firearms
10-year Treasury yield held manufacturer American
Outdoor Brands, formerly
steady at 2.48 percent. called Smith & Wesson, de-
clined 55 cents, or 2.8 per-
Wall Street’s slight gains on cent, to $18.83.q
Friday left the stock market
hovering near its latest re-
cord highs set on Wednes-
day. Stronger-than-expect-
ed earnings from compa-
nies, continued improve-
Jonathan Niles, left, and Jay Woods work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. A late ment in the U.S. economy
wave of buying helped nudge U.S. stock indexes slightly higher Friday after a day of mostly listless
trading. and expectations for busi-
(AP Photo/Richard Drew) ness-friendly policies from
Washington have helped
propel the market this year
ALEX VEIGA slipped 1.54 points, or 0.1 or 1.7 percent, to $162.24. to new highs. Should inves-
percent, to 1,394.13. Not faring as well were real
AP Business Writer Speaking in Chicago on estate, utilities and phone tors be nervous about a
the Fed’s economic out- company stocks, which
A late wave of buying look Friday, Yellen said the pullback?
Fed will likely resume rais-
helped nudge U.S. stock in- ing interest rates later this “In the very short term there
month to reflect a strength-
dexes slightly higher Friday ening job market and in-
flation edging toward the
after a day of mostly listless central bank’s 2 percent
target rate.
trading. Yellen added that the cen-
tral bank expects steady
Banks and health care economic improvement
to justify additional rate in-
stocks climbed the most creases. While not specify-
ing how many rate hikes
as investors priced in an could occur this year, Yel-
len noted that Fed officials
increasing likelihood that in December had estimat-
ed that there would be
interest rates will rise in the three this year.
Investors’ expectations of
coming months. a rate hike this month had
been building in recent
Federal Reserve Chair Ja- days as remarks by other
Fed officials signaled the
net Yellen helped stoke central bank is ready to re-
sume raising rates as soon
those expectations in a as its next two-day meeting
of policymakers on March
speech in which she said 14-15. That’s one reason
the major indexes moved
an improving job market little before and after Yel-
len’s speech.
and rising inflation would Still, the increased likeli-
hood of higher interest
likely prompt the central rates gave several stocks a
modest lift, including banks,
bank to increase borrow- which stand to make
healthier profits from lend-
ing costs. ing as rates rise. Bank of
the Ozarks added $1.09, or
“The real takeaway here 2 percent, to $56.24, while
Signature Bank rose $2.79,
is if the Fed is willing to
start moving, they see the
economy as not only do-
ing better but likely to do
better going forward,” said
Brad McMillan, chief invest-
ment officer at Common-
wealth Financial Network.
“The Fed is notorious for
waiting until the evidence
of growth is absolutely un-
deniable.”
The Dow Jones industrial
average rose 2.74 points, or
0.01 percent, to 21,005.71.
The Standard & Poor’s 500
index gained 1.20 points,
or 0.1 percent, to 2,383.12.
The Nasdaq composite in-
dex added 9.53 points, or
0.2 percent, to 5,870.75.
Small-company stocks
fell. The Russell 2000 index
