STORY: Stocks finished mostly higher Monday with the S&P 500 bouncing off a two-month low as U.S. Treasury yields stayed elevated with investors dialing back expectations on the pace of interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

The Dow added almost nine tenths of one percent while the S&P ended just slightly higher, but the Nasdaq fell nearly four tenths of a percent.

The Dow benefited from a four percent rise in UnitedHealth Group after President Joe Biden's administration proposed 2026 reimbursement rates for Medicare Advantage plans run by private insurers, which would result in a 2.2% increase in payments.

Treasury yields edged higher, with the benchmark 10-year note yield touching a 14-month high above 4.8%.

Markets are currently pricing in one rate cut from the Fed this year as inflation remains above the central banks's target and the economy continues to grow at a healthy clip.

Winthrop Capital Management Chief Investment Officer Adam Coons remains cautious on stocks.

"Most likely we're going to have this dynamic where you're going to continue see markets focused on what the Fed is doing. And the health of the U.S. economy, which right now is very, very strong. But as soon as we see anything that shows that the U.S. economy might be turning over, I think you're going to see heightened volatility. I think that's the thing to watch is, you know, the economic data is probably going to have a heightened level of scrutiny this year. Because people will just continue to have this forecast, that the U.S. has to have a recession. It hasn't happened in the last two years. So you're going to have an increased kind of sensitivity to that within markets here in the next six months."

Others stocks on the move included Nvidia which slipped two percent after the U.S. government said it would further restrict artificial-intelligence chip and technology exports.

And Moderna plunged 17% making it the biggest decliner on the S&P 500 after slashing its 2025 sales forecast by $1 billion.