Stocks Ended Mostly Lower ahead of Yellen Speech

U.S. stocks closed mostly lower on Monday as investors turned cautious ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen at the end of the week. The Dow industrial Average dropped 23.15 points, or 0.12%, to 18,529.42. The S&P 500 shed 1.23 points, or 0.062%, to 2,182.64. The Nasdaq Composite rose 6.23 points, or 0.12%, to 5,244.60.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer speech on Sunday was seen as broadly hawkish, laying another marker on the trail for a possible interest rate hike in September.

Oil futures settled with a drop of 3% on Monday as investors cashed in on a seven-session streak of gains, pressured by expectations of higher global crude production. September West Texas Intermediate crude slid $1.47, or 3%, to settle at $47.05 a barrel. October Brent crude fell $1.72, or 3.4%, to $49.16 a barrel.

Pfizer Inc (PFE.N), beating out numerous other bidders, said it would buy U.S. cancer drug company Medivation Inc (MDVN.O) for $14 billion in cash, adding its blockbuster prostate cancer drug Xtandi to the company’s growing oncology roster.