US stocks recovered from early losses to close slightly higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 bouncing from a two-week low as a global bond selloff reversed course after sending US Treasury yields to multi-decade highs.

Stocks were under pressure in early trading as economic data kept pointing to a solid economy with persistent price pressures that stoked fears that inflation could ultimately force the Federal Reserve to become more aggressive with rate hikes.

The US Labor Department said weekly initial jobless claims dipped to 197,000, below the 200,000 forecast of economists polled by Reuters. It was the latest in a string of reports this week that indicated the labour market was on solid footing, ahead of the government payrolls report on Friday.

Treasury yields extended gains, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury note hit a 24-year high, after closing out September with its biggest quarterly gain since 1994, and pushed equities lower after the Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing PMI dipped to 54.5 last month from 54.6 in August and showed a jump in input prices, raising inflation worries.

But yields turned lower as buyers stepped in, and further declined after Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson suggested the central bank may be patient before hiking rates again, following a 25 basis point hike in September.

The two-year US Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Fed, dropped about 10 basis points and was poised for its biggest daily drop since August 2025.

"Even though valuations have come down, the market's still not cheap, so I'm not bearish on the equity market. We can chug along, but I expect higher volatility in both equities and bonds," said Scott Welch, chief investment officer at Certuity in Potomac, Maryland.

"Everybody's adjusting to a new normal. There's nothing particularly scary about what's happening in the markets right now; it's just a little bit different than what people have been used to operating in over the past few years, and it's going to take some adjustment."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 20 points, or 0.04 percent, to 50,926, the S&P 500 gained 14 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,666 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 10 points, or 0.04 percent, to 26,871. (Reuters)



Edited by Cecil Wong