The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that U.S. stocks recovered from early losses to close slightly higher Thursday, with the S&P 500 bouncing from a two-week low as a global bond sell-off reversed course after sending U.S. Treasury yields to multidecade highs. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says the S&P/TSX Composite Index closed off its lows at 35,154.76, down 81.11 points for the day. Stocks were under pressure in early trading as U.S. economic data kept pointing to a solid economy with persistent price pressures that stoked fears that inflation could ultimately force the Federal Reserve to become more aggressive with rate hikes. The Labor Department said weekly initial jobless claims dipped to 197,000, below the 200,000 forecast of economists polled by Reuters. It was the latest in a string of reports this week that indicated the labour market was on solid footing, ahead of the government payrolls report on Friday. Treasury yields extended gains, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury note hit a 24-year high, after the Institute for Supply Management said its Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dipped to 54.5 last month from 54.6 in August and showed a jump in input prices, raising inflation worries.