Stocks set records again; bond yields sink after jobs report

NEW YORK» Bond yields sank Friday to their lowest level of the year, and the dollar’s value fell against rivals after the nation’s job growth slowed last month. But stock indexes chugged again to record heights, led by technology companies and dividend payers.

Yields fell immediately after the government said that employers added 138,000 jobs last month, which was short of economists’ expectations and a slowdown from April’s hiring. The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped to 2.15 percent from 2.21 percent late Thursday and hit its lowest level since midNovember.

Stocks opened for trading an hour after the release of the jobs report, and they were higher for nearly the entire day. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 9.01 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,439.07. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 62.11, or 0.3 percent, to 21,206.29, and the Nasdaq composite added 58.97, or 0.9 percent, to 6,305.80. All three indexes added to records set on Thursday.

Friday’s drop in interest rates helped boost stocks in industries that pay big dividends. Real-estate investment trusts rose twice as fast as the overall S&P 500, for example. Dividends look more attractive to income investors when bonds are paying less in interest.

On the opposite end were energy stocks, which deepened their losses for 2017. Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 70 cents, or 1.4 percent, to settle at $47.66 per barrel. Brent crude, used to price international oils, sank 68 cents to $49.95 per barrel. Energy stocks in the S&P 500 lost 1.2 percent Friday, and they’re down 14 percent for the year.