Stocks edged up Friday ahead of fresh data on the services and manufacturing sectors that are expected to point to a robust economic recovery.
The S&P 500 ticked 0.3% higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4%.
Stocks have come under pressure in recent days as concerns about the pace of economic recovery, high valuations for technology stocks and rising bond yields weighed on sentiment. On Friday, investors will get to assess purchasing managers’ views on the outlook for both the services and manufacturing sectors at 9:45 a.m. ET.
“Investors are taking a little bit of a pause,” said Arthur van Slooten, global asset allocation strategist at Société Générale. “We believe there is further to go. When the reflation trade is back on and there is more confidence about this, we’ll see a continuation of the market performance that we’ve had” in recent weeks, he added.
In bond markets, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.308%, from 1.286% on Thursday. Yields have climbed this week, prompting some investors to question whether risky assets such as stocks are looking less attractive, said Kiran Ganesh, a multiasset strategist at UBS Global Wealth Management.
