Stocks Hit Highs After Yellen Talks; Dow, S&P 500 Continue Push Into Record Territory
The Dow industrials and S&P 500 clinched fresh all-time highs after the nominee to head the Federal Reserve defended the central bank's economic stimulus efforts, though weak earnings from Cisco Systems hurt technology stocks.</br></br>The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 54.59 points, or 0.3%, to 15876.22, while the S&P 500 gained 8.62 points, or 0.5%, to 1790.62. Both indexes ended at record levels for a second consecutive day. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 7.16 points, or 0.2%, to 3972.74, its highest finish in more than 13 years.</br></br>Investors focused on Fed Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen, President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the central bank after Ben Bernanke steps down in January, for signals about Fed policy.</br></br>Ms. Yellen said in a hearing on her nomination before the Senate Banking Committee that there are dangers to ending the central bank's $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program too soon, an assurance to investors that few big policy changes are on the way. The Fed's bond-buying program is widely credited for helping to enable the S&P 500's 26% gain in 2013.</br></br>"In her first test before the Senate she's come across clear and concise and saying what we expected," said Yousef Abbasi, New York-based market strategist at brokerage JonesTrading Institutional Services.