Energy companies lead US stock indexes mostly higher

Associated Press

Another day of listless trading on Wall Street ended Tuesday with the major stock indexes closing out having shifted marginally from the day before.

Gains in energy and technology companies were canceled out by losses among banks, phone companies and other sectors.

A rebound in crude oil prices helped lift energy stocks, which led the gainers. Banks posted the largest losses.

Investors were making modest moves ahead of Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen’s testimony before Congress today and Thursday, and the release of the Fed’s Beige Book, an economic snapshot used by the central bank to gauge U.S. economic trends.

The market will key in on both as it tries to discern how Fed policy on interest rates may play out this year and next, said Sameer Samana, global quantitative strategist for the Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

“Any time you have those types of potentially market-moving events, especially with policy being such a big focus right now, people are always a little hesitant” to make big market moves, Samana said.

Mostly, investors appeared to be taking a wait-and-see approach ahead of Yellen’s two-day appearance before Congress.