NEW YORK — Stocks drifted to a mixed close on Wall Street Thursday in what has been a rocky week so far because of worries coming out of the bond market about the U.S. government’s mounting debt.

Trading remained choppy throughout most of the day following Wednesday’s big slump for the S&P 500. That loss has put the benchmark index on track for its worst week in the last seven.

The S&P 500 slipped 2.60 points, or less than 0.1%, to close at 5,842.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.35 points, or less than 0.1%, to 41,859.09. The Nasdaq composite rose 53.09 points, or 0.3% to 18,925.73.

Technology stocks did most of the heavy lifting for the broader market. The majority of stocks within the S&P 500 lost ground, but gains for technology companies with outsized values offset those losses. Google’s parent Alphabet jumped 1.4% and Nvidia rose 0.8%.

The choppy trading this week and sharp decline for stocks on Wednesday follows several weeks of mostly gains that have brought the S&P 500 back within 5% of its all-time high.

“We’ve had a good bounce here, but the market is looking for some excuse to take some money off the table,” said Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

Treasury yields held a bit steadier in the bond market, but only after oscillating earlier in the morning after the House of Representatives approved a bill that would cut taxes and could add trillions of dollars to the U.S. debt. The bond market has been the epicenter of Wall Street’s action this week. Yields have been broadly on the rise in part because of worries about the U.S. government’s spiraling debt.

Besides making it more expensive for the U.S. government to borrow to pay its bills, higher Treasury yields can also filter into the rest of the economy and make it tougher for U.S. households and businesses to get their own loans. Higher yields also discourage investors from paying high prices for stocks and other investments.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed as high as 4.63% before the U.S. stock market opened for trading, before receding to 4.54%. It stood at 4.58% late Wednesday and was as low as 4.01% early last month. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for action by the Federal Reserve, slipped to 3.99% from 4.02% late Wednesday.

The House’s multitrillion-dollar spending bill, which aims to extend some $4.5 trillion in tax breaks from President Donald Trump’s first term while adding others, is expected to undergo some changes when it gets to the Senate for a vote.

The legislation also includes a speedier rollback of production tax credits for clean electricity projects, which sent shares of solar companies tumbling. Sunrun dropped 37.1%, Enphase Energy fell 19.6% and First Solar slid 4.3%.

Health care stocks were also falling early Thursday after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it was immediately expanding its auditing of Medicare Advantage plans. UnitedHealth Group fell 2.1% and Humana lost 7.6%.