At the start of the week, stocks on Wall Street are performing with mixed results, as major indices trade close to the flatline in New York. This follows a strong performance in the previous week. The S&P 500 is currently experiencing its fifth consecutive day of gains, while the Nasdaq 100 has already seen six consecutive days of positive returns. However, the rise in Treasury yields today is posing challenges for further stock market advances. Defensive sectors like utilities, health care, and staples are outperforming cyclicals and tech sectors. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa D. Cook delivered a speech at Duke University expressing the belief that current policy measures are restrictive enough to bring inflation back to the target rate of 2%. In Monday’s trading, the S&P 500 was flat, while the Nasdaq 100 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw marginal increases of 0.1%. Small caps, on the other hand, experienced a significant drop of 1.2% after a strong week of gains.