WASHINGTON—Rising bond yields caused a market panic recently and sparked a sell-off in the stock market. While yields are still at historically low levels, investors worry that a sharp move in yields could be a sign of trouble. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose this month to as high as 1.73 percent, up from 0.89 percent a year ago. After reaching a 14 month high, the yield retreated to 1.62 percent on March 23. The technology sector has been the biggest beneficiary of artificially low rates in recent years and the spike in Treasury yields has hit technology shares especially hard. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, for example, fell more than 10 percent between Feb. 12 and Mar 8 before it started to recover in recent weeks. The index is dominated by America’s most innovative companies including Apple, Google, Intel, and Tesla. After its peak on Jan. 26, Tesla’s share price plunged more than 30 percent in March. The cheap …