Stocks give up gains that came with Yellen's upbeat talk on economy
NEW YORK -- Stocks were mostly lower on Wall Street at midday, giving up a modest gain following a generally upbeat assessment of the economy from Fed Chair Janet Yellen.
Yellen, speaking at a conference of monetary officials in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, said the case for raising interest rates has strengthened given improvements in the economy.
Phone companies led the list of declining stocks, while the health care and technology sectors rose.
AT&T and Verizon each fell 1 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 75 points, or 0.4 percent, to 18,370.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 7 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,166. The Nasdaq composite dipped 13 points, or 0.3 percent, to 5,199.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.58 percent.