Financial Markets                      12/02 09:33

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. stock market is holding stronger on Tuesday as 
both bond yields and bitcoin stabilize.

   The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, coming off its first loss in six days. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average was up 180 points, or 0.4%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, 
and the Nasdaq composite was 1% higher.

   MongoDB helped lead the market and jumped 25.1% after the database company 
delivered stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. 
United Natural Foods also climbed after reporting a stronger profit than 
expected, and it rose 10.6%.

   They helped offset a 3.5% drop for Signet Jewelers, which gave a forecast 
for revenue in the holiday shopping season that fell short of analysts' 
expectations. The jeweler said it's expecting "a measured consumer environment."

   The U.S. economy has been holding up overall, but that's masking sharp 
divisions underneath the surface. Lower-income households are struggling with 
inflation that's still higher than anyone would like. Richer households, 
meanwhile, are benefiting from a stock market that's within 0.7% of its 
all-time high set in late October.

   In the bond market, Treasury yields were mixed following jumps the day 
before. The 10-year yield rose to 4.11% from 4.09% late Monday, while the 
two-year yield eased to 3.52% from 3.54%.

   Higher yields can drag prices lower for all kinds of investments, and those 
seen as the most expensive can take the biggest hit.

   Bitcoin, which tumbled below $85,000 on Monday as bond yields worldwide 
marched higher, pulled back above $90,000. That helped stocks of several 
crypto-related companies bounce back from Monday's sharp slide.

   Strategy jumped 7.3% and more than made up for Monday's loss. Coinbase 
Global gained 4.8%, and Robinhood Markets rose 4% to nearly eliminate their 
losses from the day before.

   Monday's climb in yields came after the Bank of Japan hinted that it may 
raise interest rates there soon. But hopes are still high that the Federal 
Reserve will cut its main interest rate when it meets in Washington next week.

   What comes after that for the Fed, though, is uncertain. The Fed has already 
cut its overnight interest rate twice this year in hopes of shoring up a 
slowing job market. But lower rates can fan inflation higher, and inflation has 
stubbornly remained above the Fed's 2% target.

   Complicating things is the U.S. government's earlier shutdown, which delayed 
reports on the job market and other areas of the economy.

   Investment giant Vanguard said its data suggest the U.S. labor market 
"remains stable but is still soft compared with last year."

   Overall hiring numbers are slower on a month-to-month basis. But fewer 
workers are going after job openings because of weaker immigration and an 
uptick in retirements, according to Adam Schickling, a senior U.S. economist at 
Vanguard. That in turn means hiring doesn't need to be as strong in the past to 
keep the unemployment rate steady.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes moved modestly across much of Europe and 
Asia.

   South Korea's Kospi was an outlier and jumped 1.9% for one of the world's 
bigger moves. Tech stocks helped lead the way, including rises of 2.6% for 
Samsung Electronics and 3.7% for chip company SK Hynix.

   ___

   AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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