US stocks inch higher as investors watch Britain and Yellen

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are making small gains this afternoon as investors trade cautiously while waiting for British voters to decide the fate of that nation's membership in the European Union.

Phone and energy companies are rising and drug companies are falling. Stocks posted big gains a day earlier.

The Dow Jones industrial average picked up 41 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,846 as of 2:15 p.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,090. The Nasdaq composite added 2 points to 4,839.

Opinion polls and betting markets indicate that Britons are more likely to vote to remain in the European Union in a referendum Thursday. Uncertainty about the outcome has weighed on global markets, and polls suggest the result will be close.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen spoke to the Senate today and said the U.S. economy faces a number of uncertainties that require the Fed to proceed cautiously in raising interest rates. Yellen said the Fed will watch carefully to see if the recent slowdown in job growth is temporary or a sign of a bigger problem. The Fed left interest rates unchanged in June and will meet again in late July.