Wall Street stocks veered in and out of negative territory during the day but finished higher, with the broad-based S&P 500 ending up 0.2%. (EPA Images pic)

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks edged higher Thursday, shrugging off weakness in European equities and the latest jump in oil prices.

Despite these drags, Thursday's bond market moved in a more favourable direction. Markets have been unnerved by fresh multi-year peaks in Treasury yields in recent weeks amid worries over persistent inflation and the worsening debt load facing US government finances.

Higher yields translate into costlier mortgages and other types of credit, testing the resilience of the consumer-driven US economy.

But after hitting the highest level since 2002, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury pulled back.