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1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks narrowly mixed amid Fed chair's second-day testimony

Xinhua, February 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks ended mixed Wednesday after closing at record highs Tuesday, with the Nasdaq Composite Index snapping a ten-day winning streak, as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's dovish tone was little changed during her second- day congressional testimony.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 15.38 points, or 0.08 percent, to 18,224.57. The S&P 500 dropped 1.62 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,113.86. The Nasdaq edged down 0.98 point, or 0.02 percent, to 4,967.14.

Yellen continued her semi-annual testimony Wednesday on monetary policy before the House Committee on Financial Services. She reiterated that normalization of interest rates would begin when the committee is confident that inflation is on track to hit the central bank's inflation target of 2 percent growth.

"Even when the time comes to begin to raise our target for short-term interest rates, we will continue to provide a great deal of support for the economy and make sure that we will continue to see a good job market that continues to improve over time," said Yellen.

Investors also followed closely the housing data. Sales of new single-family houses in January registered a better-than-expected annual pace of 481,000 units, managing to hold onto December's big surge, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

Mortgage applications to purchase a home rose 5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Feb. 20 from the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.

On corporate news, Chesapeake Energy Corp., the second largest producer of natural gas in the United States, reported Wednesday its adjusted fourth-quarter 2014 earnings of 11 cents per share, missing market consensus. The company also announced that it would cut its rig operations due to lower oil prices. Its shares plunged 9.56 percent to 17.98 U.S. dollars apiece.

U.S. equities renewed record runs Tuesday, with both the Dow and the S&P 500 refreshing their record highs, as Yellen stressed in her first congressional testimony that the Fed would continue to be patient on a rate hike. Endite