Stock market today: Wall Street drifts and holds steadier after last week's big swings

The Dow added 34 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%. More stocks fell than rose. The flashpoint for the stock market’s movements in both directions has been what the bond market is doing, and it regressed a bit Monday following its own extreme moves. Crude prices rose after big oil-producing countries said they’d keep production cuts in place.NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are drifting Monday as Wall Street’s wild recent moves calm a bit.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.66%. That’s up from 4.57% late Friday, but it’s still below the perch above 5% that it reached last month, its highest level since 2007. High yields hurt prices for stocks and other investments, while slowing the economy and raising the pressure on the financial system.

Berkshire Hathaway fell 2% after it reported its results for the latest quarter over the weekend. It reported a loss, but that was mostly because of drops in the value of some of its investments on paper. Looking only at operating profit, Warren Buffett’s company beat analysts’ expectations. Trading of WeWork's stock was halted amid speculation about its financial health. It's plunged 98.5% this year to less than $1.

Perhaps more importantly for markets, Fed Chair Jerome Powell also hinted that a swift rise in Treasury yields since the summer — and the tumult that created in financial markets — could act as substitutes for further hikes to rates if they remain “persistent.” That's because they could be slowing the economy and putting downward pressure on the economy by themselves.

Over the last couple years, Wall Street has built up hopes several times that cuts to interest rates may be on the horizon, only for them to get dashed by Fed officials pledging to keep interest rates high for a long time to ensure inflation goes down.

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