Birmingham stocks rise on ho-hum day

Birmingham stocks rise on ho-hum day

Positives outweighed the negatives Wednesday on our Birmingham and Alabama Stock Report.

Medical Properties Trust led the gainers at 2.8%. The trio of Amazon, Vulcan Materials and Weyerhaeuser were next up, each gaining 1.8%.

Community Health Systems had the biggest drop at 4.5%.

Overall, U.S. stocks drifted higher in a quiet day of trading Wednesday as yields were mixed in the bond market, which has been the main driver of Wall Street’s moves recently.

The S&P 500 rose 18.71, or 0.4%, to 4,376.95 for its fourth straight gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 65.57 points, or 0.2%, to 33,804.87, and the Nasdaq composite gained 96.83, or 0.7%, to 13,659.68. All three indexes moved between small gains and losses through the day.

Wall Street has been mostly struggling since the summer as longer-term yields shoot higher in the bond market, weighing on prices for all kinds of investments. Some relief has come this week, and yields have eased after officials at the Federal Reserve suggested they may be done raising their main overnight interest rate.