U.S. stocks edge higher as falling oil prices help take pressure off the market

NEW YORK — Stocks edged higher on Wall Street Wednesday as falling bond yields and lower oil prices helped ease pressure on the market.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 100 points, or 0.2 per cent, as of 10:03 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.2 per cent.

Technology stocks were mixed after two days of losses that heavily weighed on the broader market. That also helped ease pressure on the broader market, allowing the broad gains throughout the S&P 500 to push the index higher.

Nvidia fell 0.1 per cent following a 4.1 per cent dip on Tuesday. Micron Technology, which reports its latest financial results later Wednesday, fell 0.4 per cent following its 13.2 per cent plunge on Tuesday.

Google’s parent company Alphabet rose one per cent after it was announced that it would replace Verizon in the Dow on Monday. Alphabet will become the fifth Magnificent 7 company to join the index. The other companies are Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Nvidia.

Big Tech companies, especially those focused on artificial intelligence technology, have pricey values that give them more sway over the market’s broader direction. That was the case on Tuesday when sharp losses for a few valuable tech companies pulled the market lower.

Oil prices continued slipping as the U.S. and Iran negotiate a possible end to their war. Brent crude, the international standard, fell four per cent to US$73.72 a barrel. It has been trading below $80 in recent days but is still above the approximately $70 per barrel it was trading at in late February before the war began. U.S. crude prices fell 4.4 per cent to $69.96 a barrel.

Treasury yields mostly fell, removing more pressure from stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.41 per cent from 4.50 per cent late Tuesday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury fell to 4.15 per cent from 4.16 per cent.

Gold prices fell 2.6 per cent, and at one point slipped below $4,000 an ounce. Prices were above $5,000 an ounce earlier in the year. The precious metal is often a barometer of the appetite for risk among investors, with more buying at times of increased anxiety and more selling as anxiety eases.

Markets were mixed in Europe and Asia.

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.