NEW YORK — Stocks rose Thursday as a bit more fear evaporated from Wall Street, keeping its main index of health on track for a winning month.

The S&P 500 rose 23.02 points, or 0.6%, to 4,050.83 for its fifth gain in the past six days. It’s been on a sharp turnaround after struggling in earlier weeks on worries about whether the banking system was cracking under the weight of higher interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 141.43, or 0.4%, to 32,859.03, and the Nasdaq composite gained 87.24, or 0.7%, to 12,013.47.

Forceful actions by regulators worldwide have helped build confidence that the current trouble for banks won’t torpedo the economy like the 2008 financial crisis did. Traders have also begun betting heavily that the Federal Reserve will have to cut interest rates soon. Such cuts could offer relief after a year of relentless hikes to rates, and they also tend to act like steroids for markets.

To be sure, all the recent ebullience has some professionals on Wall Street wary.

“Markets are pricing the best of both worlds: a recession that brings inflation down rapidly and keeps rates low, yet one where corporate earnings do not fall sharply,” according to analysts at Barclays led by Ajay Rajadhyaksha, global chairman of research.

They are skeptical and think both bonds and U.S. stocks look too expensive.

Since Silicon Valley Bank earlier this month became history’s second-biggest U.S. bank failure, Treasury yields in the bond market have tumbled as traders built bets the Federal Reserve would have to take it easier on interest rates.

The Fed has pulled its key overnight rate to a range of 4.75% to 5%, up from virtually zero at the start of last year, to drive down inflation. High rates can do that, but only by taking a blunt hammer to the entire economy. They also drag down prices for stocks and other investments.

The bet on Wall Street has been that the Fed may cut rates as soon as this summer, to release some of the pressure built up on the economy and banks. That has caused the price to soar and the yield to tumble for the two-year Treasury, which tends to move on expectations for Fed action.

Its yield plunged from above 5% earlier this month, when it was at its highest level since 2007, back below 3.60% last week. That’s a massive move for the bond market. It rose Thursday to 4.12% from 4.11% late Wednesday.

Expectations for easier rates in turn have helped to buoy the Big Tech stocks that dominate the S&P 500 and other indexes. That’s because tech and high-growth stocks are seen as some of the biggest beneficiaries of low rates.

Gains for Microsoft, Apple and Amazon on Thursday were the strongest forces pushing the S&P 500 higher. Amazon rose 1.7%, while the others were up more modestly.