Fed Chief Testifies

U.S. stocks were little changed Wednesday as traders watched the second day of testimony from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen .

“People are hanging onto every word Janet Yellen speaks,” said R.J. Grant, associate director of equity trading at KBW, adding traders are trying to extrapolate meaning from her testimony to provide clues about when and how fast interest rates will rise.

“Everybody’s just trying to figure out what the Fed is going to do. That’s kind of the biggest topic on peoples’ minds, especially domestically,” he said.

On Tuesday, Ms. Yellen indicated the central bank is moving toward raising interest rates later this year as the economy has improved.

Stocks rose on the “interpretation that there’s not going to be a sharp rise in rates,” said Douglas Burtnick, senior investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management.

The Fed’s easy monetary policy has helped stocks rally since the financial crisis. Even when the Fed begins to raise interest rates, many investors say stocks can continue to gain as rates will remain relatively low.

(via WSJ)