U.S. stocks rally ahead of Yellen's speech

U.S. stocks traded higher in the morning session Monday as investors awaited a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen in the afternoon.

By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 14.93 points, or 0.08 percent, to 19,858.34. The S&P 500 inched up 2.91 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,260.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 24.28 points, or 0.45 percent, to 5,461.45.

Yellen will speak on the job market at a University of Baltimore commencement. This is the last of the Fed's speeches before the Christmas break and will be followed for any additional guidance on monetary policy.

Last week, the U.S. central bank decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 1/2 to 3/4 percent.

The Fed also released its updated economic projections, which indicated that the central bank forecasts three rate hikes next year, while in its September projections, Fed officials expected only two rate hikes in 2017.

On the economic front, adjusted for seasonal influences, the Markit Flash U.S. Services PMI Business Activity Index posted 53.4 in December, down slightly from 54.6 in November but above the 50.0 no-change value for the tenth consecutive month.

On Friday, U.S. stocks reversed early gains to end lower, as meditated on the country's housing starts data. Enditem