Stocks wobble as investors look for direction amid recovery

The Federal Hall statue of George Washington overlooks the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, June 7, 2021. Stocks are off to a mixed start on Wall Street as technology companies climb while banks and energy companies fall. The S&P 500 index edged up 0.1% in the early going Tuesday, June 8 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was slightly lower. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Stocks wobbled between small gains and losses in early trading on Wall Street Tuesday as investors continue to search for direction as the economy recovers from its pandemic slump.

The S&P 500 was little changed as of 10:12 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 51 points, or 0.2%, to 34,579 and the Nasdaq rose 0.4%.

Banks were the biggest drag on the market as bond yields, which they rely on to charge more lucrative interest on loans, slipped. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.53% from 1.57% late Monday. Bank of America fell 1.1% and Citigroup fell 1.7%.

Industrial stocks also broadly fell. Caterpillar shed 1%.

Technology stocks were the bright spot in the market, with much of the sector rising broadly. Apple rose 0.7%.

The stock of Fastly, an internet cloud services provider, was 4.6% higher after the company said it had addressed an internal problem that caused dozens of websites around the globe to go down briefly, including the home page of Britain’s government and The New York Times.

Investors have been navigating a choppy market as they digest information on how the economy is recovering. The World Bank upgraded its outlook for global growth this year, predicting that COVID-19 vaccinations and massive government stimulus in rich countries will power the fastest worldwide expansion in nearly five decades. The 189-country anti-poverty agency forecasts that the world economy will grow 5.6% this year, up from the 4.1% it forecast in January. The global economy last year shrank 3.5%.

The upbeat forecasts for growth have raised concerns about rising inflation. Investors have been trying to gauge whether the increase will be temporary and tied to the recovery or will run hot and become a more permanent fixture of the post-pandemic economy. The path of inflation could determine whether central banks continue to generously support economies or pull back.

Elsewhere in the market, Wendy's jumped 13.5% as it seemingly joined a list of companies that have gained the attention of a group of highly active individual investors. Some of those other companies, which have seen their stock values soar and fall sporadically include AMC Entertainment, Blackberry and GameStop.