Stocks Opened Slightly Lower amid Data, Yellen Eyed

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Wednesday ahead of a speech held by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and amid some key data releases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately slipped 10.25 points, or 0.06%, to 117,878.10. The S&P 500 was down 0.70 point, or 0.03%, to 2,101.93. The Nasdaq Composite was up 10.31 points, or 0.20%, to 5,166.62.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen could cement the case for a U.S. interest rate hike ahead of the Fed’s Dec. 15-16 policy meeting, with public appearances over the next two days at a high-profile economics group and before a joint committee of Congress.

U.S. private employers boosted hiring in November, signaling job growth is likely strong enough to support the first Federal Reserve interest rate hike in nearly a decade when policymakers meet later this month. The ADP National Employment Report showed private payrolls increased 217,000 last month on top of the upwardly revised 196,000 jobs added in October.

The productivity of American businesses was higher in the third quarter than initially reported. Newly revised government figures show that productivity rose at a 2.2% annual rate instead of 1.6%.