U.S. stocks keep rising after Yellen' s comments

U.S. stocks extended gains on Tuesday, as Wall Street cheered U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's dovish speech.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 79.65 points, or 0.44 percent, to 17,999.98. The S&P 500 rose 8.51 points, or 0.40 percent, to 2,117.92. The Nasdaq Composite Index ticked up 4.02 points, or 0.08 percent, to 4,972.73.

Traders kept a close eye on her comments for clues on the timing of the next interest rate hike.

Yellen said Monday that the overall labor market is quite positive, although the recent slowdown in jobs bears "close watching."

The U.S. total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 38,000 in May, well below the market consensus of 158,000 and notching the fewest monthly job gain in almost six years.

Investors expected that a sharp decline in hiring situation may push back the central bank's decision to raise interest rates in June.

Yellen said additional rate increases would still be appropriate but did not give a specific time period for the next hike.

Some analysts believed that a June rate hike is off the table after the disappointing jobs report, but July is still possible.

However, Chris Low, the chief economist at FTN Financial, said Tuesday that the Fed is unlikely to raise interest rate in June or July, because it would take a doozy of a June employment rebound to unwind the weakness of March through May.

U.S. stocks ended higher Monday, with energy leading, after the speech from Yellen. Endit