Stocks Closed Mostly Lower on Yellen Comments

U.S. stocks closed mostly lower on Tuesday, after the Federal Reserve suggested valuations on biotech and Internet stocks may be stretched. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 5.26 points, or 0.03%, to 17,060.68. The S&P 500 was down 3.82 points, or 0.19%, to 1,973.28. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 24.03 points, or 0.54%, to 4,416.39.

The Fed’s semi-annual monetary policy report, which accompanied Yellen’s testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, noted that overall U.S. stock valuations were “generally at levels not far above their historical averages,” though it singled out riskier sectors of the market.

Intel Corp posted second-quarter net income of $2.8 billion, or 55 cents a share, compared with $2.0 billion, or 39 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter following tentative signs of improvement in demand for personal computers. Second-quarter revenue was $13.8 billion, compared with $12.8 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) on Tuesday reported a second-quarter profit of $272.56 million, or 26 cents a share,compared with a profit of $335.01 million, or 30 cents a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue, minus traffic acquisition costs, was $1.04 billion, down from $1.07 billion in the year-earlier period.

Crude-oil futures succumbed to renewed selling pressure Tuesday, pushing the U.S. benchmark back below $100 a barrel for the first time since May. On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for delivery in August  were down 95 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $99.96 a barrel after trading as low as $99.01.