Stock Market Opens Flat Ahead Of Yellen Testimony

Stocks opened little changed Thursday, struggling for direction in early trade ahead of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen. Ahead of an appearance before the Joint Economic Committee, Yellen said an interest-rate hike could come "relatively soon," doing little to dispel exepctations the central bank could deliver a rate increase as soon as next month. The S&P 500 fell less than 0.1% to 2,176.85 while Dow industrials fell 9 points to 18,858. The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.1% to 5,291.48.