US open: Spotlight on Fedspeakers ahead of Yellen's testimony

Shares on Wall Street were trading on a mixed note ahead of an eagerly awaited Congressional testimony from the country's central bank chief, Janet Yellen, the next day.

At 1507 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was drifting lower by 0.03% or 4.14 points to 21,406.92 while the S&P was lower by 0.11% or 2.71 points at 2,424.83.

The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite on the other hand was higher by 0.14% or 8.98 points at 6,185.42.

From a sector standpoint, the worst performing areas of the market were: Apparel Retailers (-2.87%), Clothing & Accesories (-1.47%) and Retail REITs (-1.14%).

"Wednesday remains the most notable session of the week, with Fed Chair Janet Yellen testifying before the House Financial Services Committee and the Bank of Canada potentially raising interest rates for the first time in almost seven years. A rate hike from the BoC would come as a number of the G7 central banks adopt a more hawkish stance, despite the economic data not necessarily supporting such a move.

"It would appear there is a sudden coordinated desire to start moving away from the ultra-accommodative monetary policies that have been necessary over the past decade, even if the economic data doesn’t necessarily warrant higher rates," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

On the economic front, wholesale inventories grew by 0.4% month-on-month during the month of May (consensus: 0.3%), according to the Department of Commerce.

The number of job openings in the States, a closely-watched report by some rate-setters at the Federal Reserve, fell from 6.004m in April to 5.666, for May.

The NFIB's small business confidence index slipped in June by 0.9 points to 103.6, but the business lobby group emphasised how optimism was continuing to hold near its post-election high.

Investors were also eyeing a speech by Federal Reserve governor Lael Brainard at a New York Fed conference at 1730 BST, while Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari will take part in a Q&A at the Minnesota Women's Economic Roundtable later in the day.

In corporate news, PepsiCo was lower following its latest set of quarterly financials and despite having raised its forecast for earnings per share in 2017 from $5.09 to $5.13.

Elsewhere, Amazon.com was lower on the day of its Prime Day sales promotion.

Shares in Halcon Resources rocketed after the firm sold its Wiliston Basin assets.

Rent-A-Center was another top mover after disclosing it had rejected a takeover bid from Vintage Capital at $15 a share.

Dow Jones - Risers

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $73.89 0.90%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $58.90 0.30%
Boeing Co. (BA) $204.51 0.27%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $87.27 0.21%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $108.06 0.20%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $187.21 0.14%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $226.06 0.10%
Visa Inc. (V) $95.16 0.07%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $151.27 0.06%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $70.02 0.06%

Dow Jones - Fallers

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $92.55 -0.69%
American Express Co. (AXP) $83.96 -0.40%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $82.27 -0.36%
General Electric Co. (GE) $25.96 -0.31%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $33.55 -0.30%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $144.67 -0.27%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $102.85 -0.18%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $62.73 -0.16%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $44.32 -0.14%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $33.37 -0.11%

S&P 500 - Risers

Mallinckrodt Plc Ordinary Shares (MNK) $42.83 2.31%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $11.51 2.13%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $91.08 2.03%
Centene Corp. (CNC) $82.58 1.79%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $30.19 1.55%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $171.35 1.39%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $67.18 1.19%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $22.12 1.19%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $37.05 1.15%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $38.82 1.12%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $14.07 -5.76%
T. Rowe Price Group Inc. (TROW) $75.03 -2.62%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $29.06 -2.22%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $53.39 -2.22%
D. R. Horton Inc. (DHI) $36.45 -1.94%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $12.30 -1.76%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $24.63 -1.76%
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) $24.17 -1.75%
Signet Jewelers Ltd (SIG) $59.89 -1.71%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $20.26 -1.65%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $91.08 2.03%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $171.35 1.39%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $67.18 1.19%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $38.82 1.12%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $130.05 1.08%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $152.49 0.98%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $40.81 0.98%
Dentsply International Inc. (XRAY) $64.86 0.97%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $152.28 0.95%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $173.80 0.93%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $159.04 -2.60%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $265.01 -1.42%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $43.23 -1.19%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $79.00 -1.17%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $68.65 -0.92%
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $50.20 -0.91%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $57.99 -0.89%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $28.48 -0.84%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $55.20 -0.79%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $152.52 -0.77%