Stocks climbed Thursday, but Wall Street maintained a cautious state of mind as recession concerns loomed, and bond yields slid to their lowest levels in about two weeks.
The Nasdaq Composite outpaced the other major averages, adding 1.6% as lower bond yields gave the tech-heavy index a boost.
Meanwhile, more defensive stocks such as consumer staples, utilities, real estate and health-care stocks drove the S&P 500. Consumer staples names such as Clorox were among notable gainers in the broader market index.
“The market action that we’ve seen today and yesterday at least on the internals suggests that the market is becoming increasingly concerned with the global economic growth,” said Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday reiterated that the central bank is "strongly committed" to bringing down inflation, as he capped a second day speaking on monetary policy before Congress.
