Stocks claw back lost ground

Associated Press

NEW YORK

U.S. stocks rose for the fourth day in a row Tuesday as they continued to recover the ground they lost last week. Major indexes approached record highs again.

Most of the gains went to banks, which surged as bond yields jumped. That will allow them to charge higher rates on loans. Banks took steep losses May 17, when stocks had their worst day since September. Scientific instrument companies and drugmakers also rose. However auto-parts companies were hammered after poor third-quarter results from AutoZone and home builders fell after sales of new homes sank in April.

The four-day rally has restored most of the market’s losses and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index is almost back to record highs.

“The market was simply reminded that there’s political risk out there and it reacted to that reminder,” said Matthew Peterson, chief wealth strategist for LPL Financial.

Peterson said he doesn’t think long-term investors have made big changes to their portfolios in response to last week’s drop, which followed allegations President Donald Trump asked the FBI to end an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.