Financial, Health Care Stocks Pull Market Higher

SARA LEPRO

NEW YORK (AP) — Investors can't seem to get the stock market rally back up to full speed again.

Stocks closed mostly higher but down from their highs of the day Thursday following three straight days of losses. Investors piled back into financial and health care companies and moved out of industries like technology that had been leading the market.

Several upbeat economic reports encouraged investors after a slide earlier this week that dragged the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index down 3.8 percent. Investors also sold Treasurys, feeling less need for the safety of government debt because of the signs of economic improvement. ...