Markets Right Now: Utilities lead early stock gains

NEW YORK (AP) – The latest on developments in financial markets (All times local):

9:35 a.m.

A weak report on retail sales sent bond yields lower and high-dividend stocks like utilities and real estate companies higher.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.13 percent early Wednesday from 2.21 percent the day before. Investors tend to buy bonds, which sends yields lower, when they see signs of weakness in the economy.

Likewise, safe-play stocks like utilities rose. NextEra Energy gained 1.4 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 1 point, or 0.1 percent, to 2,439.

The Dow Jones industrial average was little changed at 21,325. The Nasdaq was also flat at 6,217.