U.S. stocks narrowly mixed at midday ahead of Yellen's speech

U.S. stocks traded mixed around midday on Friday, as investors were digesting inflation data ahead of Fed Chair Janet Yellen's afternoon speech.

At noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 48.38 points, or 0.26 percent, to 18,237.36. The S&P 500 lost 2.38 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,128.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.61 point, or 0.01 percent, to 5,091.41.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all urban consumers increased 0.1 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, in line with market consensus, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday.

Over the last 12 months, the all items index declined 0.2 percent before seasonal adjustment.

The core CPI (less food and energy) rose 0.3 percent in April, the biggest monthly increase in two years, lifting the year-over- year rate to 1.8 percent.

"Core prices have ranged from 1.6 percent to 2.0 percent since August 2012, and now sit directly in the middle of the range. Fed policymakers will be encouraged to see core prices holding up in the face of dramatic energy declines, confident that the trend is heading in the direction of their forecast," said Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

Investors were eagerly awaiting Yellen's speech on the economic outlook Friday afternoon, which was expected to indicate more clues on the timing of the first rate hike.

U.S. stocks ended modestly higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 eking out its 10th closing record for 2015, as investors expected the Fed would delay rate hikes following the release of a batch of generally downbeat economic data. Endite