New York Report: US stocks up as investors await Yellen speech
STOCKS ended with modest gains yesterday as investors digested recent market gains and looked ahead to new Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen’s first testimony before lawmakers.
The Nasdaq was boosted by strength in large-cap tech and pharma names, but most market participants took a wait-and-see attitude ahead of the testimony, looking for confirmation that the Fed would not change its schedule for ending its support for the economy.
Yellen’s prepared remarks will be available before the market opens today. She will also participate in a question-and-answer session with US lawmakers after the open.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 7.71 points, or 0.05 per cent, at 15,801.79. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 2.82 points, or 0.16 per cent, at 1,799.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 22.31 points, or 0.54 per cent, at 4,148.17.
The S&P 500 is coming off its best two-day performance in four months, which capped the index’s first weekly gain in the past four. Those gains were preceded by the index’s sharpest pullback in months.
McDonald’s reported a decline in US January same-store sales, though global sales were above expectations. Shares fell 1.1 per cent to $94.86.
Alexion Pharmaceuticals was the top boost to the Nasdaq 100, jumping four per cent to $170.11 after Deutsche Bank raised its price target to $205 from $125.
Hasbro was the S&P’s top percentage gainer, rising 4.5 per cent.