Wall Street ticks higher as recession watch remains murky

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are ticking higher Monday as Wall Street keeps wrestling with whether the economy will successfully avoid a recession amid rising interest rates and high inflation.

The S&P 500 was 0.7% higher in afternoon trading, and the Nasdaq was up 0.9%. Both started the day with even bigger gains, following up on strength across European and Asian markets after China relaxed some tough anti-COVID measures.

But stocks fell back a bit as Treasury yields continued to climb, putting downward pressure on stocks.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury jumped back above 3%.