Stocks gyrated in heavy trading Thursday, as crosscurrents hit investors.
A surprise interest rate boost by China undercut stocks and bonds early.
Remarks by Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, that the Fed may soon end its nearly yearlong campaign to raise interest rates rescued prices. But slumps in energy and basic materials stocks took the edge off.
Oil prices slipped for a fourth straight day.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 28.02 points, to 11,382.51. Financial-services companies were the big winners among major companies, reflecting optimism that interest rates were peaking.
American Express, JPMorgan Chase and American International Group were winners among the 30 Dow industrials. Alcoa, Caterpillar and Boeing were among the losers, after China signaled it is trying to restrain its economic growth.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 4.31, to 1309.72. The Nasdaq composite index added 11.32, to 2344.95. The Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks slipped 3.83, to 761.40.
After the close of regular trading, shares of Microsoft fell 6 percent after the company issued a disappointing quarterly report and outlook.
New York Stock Exchange trading volume totaled 2.06 billion shares, the second-busiest day of the year. Winners held a slight edge over losers among NYSE-listed stocks.
Nasdaq volume totaled 2.55 billion shares, the busiest day in 2006, as losers topped winners by an 8-7 ratio.
Fund flows: Investors poured $34.04 billion of net cash into equity mutual funds in March, the Investment Company Institute reported, up from $27.35 billion in February.
Through March, net cash flow into stock mutual funds nearly doubled from the first three months of last year, to $92.96 billion.
The popularity of international stock funds faded a bit. Cash flow into international funds was $18.48 billion in March, down from $19.06 billion in February. In turn, domestic funds captured $15.56 billion last month, up from $8.29 billion in February.
Treasury auction: The monthly auction of 5-year Treasury notes brought a greater-than-expected yield of 4.96 percent, up from 4.76 percent in March.
