By Anna Hirtenstein

U.S. stocks and bond yields jumped Friday as investors parsed fresh data on the economy.

The S&P 500 ticked higher 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added around 44 points, or 0.1%.

Stocks have come under pressure in recent days as concerns about the pace of economic recovery, high valuations for technology stocks and rising bond yields weighed on sentiment.

"Investors are taking a little bit of a pause," said Arthur van Slooten, global asset allocation strategist at Société Générale. "We believe there is further to go. When the reflation trade is back on and there is more confidence about this, we'll see a continuation of the market performance that we've had" in recent weeks, he added.

In bond markets, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.323%, from 1.286% on Thursday. Yields have climbed this week, prompting some investors to question whether risky assets such as stocks are looking less attractive, said Kiran Ganesh, a multiasset strategist at UBS Global Wealth Management.

"A main driver for equity markets over the past few months has been a lack of competition," Mr. Ganesh said. "If yields rise, then we could see some people rotating away from growth names and toward credit or bonds."

Recent economic data have been encouraging about the recovery. New data Wednesday showed that consumers used stimulus checks to boost retail spending in January to the largest increase in seven months. Some economists have increased estimates of gross domestic product for the first quarter of the year.

"Market moves of late -- and particularly in the last week -- sent a clear story of optimism about the U.S. economy," Bank of America analysts wrote in a note to clients. "But it is a delicate balance: if rates rise too quickly based on expectations for a strong recovery and acceleration in inflation, it could actually end up delaying the recovery."

Agricultural equipment maker Deere jumped 9.1% in early trading after saying it expects solid profit growth in 2021.

Oil prices pulled back after U.S. diplomats said Thursday evening that they may meet with Iran officials for nuclear talks in the coming weeks, prompting speculation that a deal could allow Iran to begin exporting more crude. Brent crude declined 1.5% to $62.99 a barrel and the U.S. benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, fell 1.9% to $59.36.

Investors are closely watching "how quickly Iran could re-enter the market," said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at Nordic bank SEB. The country is expected to add between 2 million and 3 million barrels a day to global production if sanctions are lifted, he said.

Overseas, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 climbed 0.7%.

In Asia, major stock benchmarks were mixed. The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.6%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 retreated 0.7%.

Gunjan Banerji contributed to this article.

Write to Anna Hirtenstein at anna.hirtenstein@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-19-21 1023ET