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U.S. stocks open mixed ahead of Yellen' s speech

Xinhua, December 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks opened mixed on Wednesday, as investors awaited comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

Yellen is scheduled to speak on the U.S. economy later Wednesday at the Economics Club of Washington. Wall Street expected that could add the possibility of an interest rate hike this month.

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, a voting member of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), said Wednesday the next Fed meeting could be "historic."

On the economic front, U.S. private sector employment increased by 217,000 jobs from October to November, beating market estimates, according to the ADP National Employment Report released Wednesday.

The ADP figure is watched closely as a pre-indicator for the non-farm payrolls report due Friday.

Traders were looking to the key November employment data, the last jobs report for the year, before the Fed decides on interest rates at its December meeting.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched down 7.61 points, or 0.04 percent, to 17,880.74. The S&P 500 edged down 1.13 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,101.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 6.57 points, or 0.13 percent, to 5,162.88.

U.S. stocks posted solid gains Tuesday, the first trading day for December, as investors awaited major central banks' decisions later this month. Endite