Wall Street ends choppy session little changed

Major equity indexes in the U.S. traded in tight ranges on Tuesday as investors didn't know what to make of Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen's comments on the policy outlook. 

Speaking before the National Association for Business Economics on Tuesday, Yellen argued that the Fed needed to continue gradual rate hikes and added that it would be "imprudent" to leave rates on hold until inflation reached the Fed’s 2% target rate. Commenting on Yellen's remarks, “investors should be looking out for a December hike given we don’t know what happens to the Fed chair position next year. (Yellen), probably wants to be able to, knowing anyone new in that role might not feel comfortable tightening the first month,” Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago, told Reuters.

Despite the subdued trading action, tech shares were able to record modest recovery gains after yesterday's heavy losses, lifting the S&P 500 Information Technology .SPLRCT 0.4% on the day.

On other news, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he was "totally prepared" to use military options in North Korea but further added that they were not preferred, allowing the risk sentiment to remain neutral during the day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average  lost 7.16 points, or 0.03%, to 22,288.93, the S&P 500 added 0.50 points, or 0.02%, to 2,497.16 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 10.57 points, or 0.17%, to 6,381.17.

Headlines from the NA session:

• Market wrap: risk aversion appeared to fade ahead of Yellen, dollar bid - Westpac
• USD index is peaking out, but USD/JPY to hold firm - Deutsche Bank
• US New Home Sales decline in August - Wells Fargo
• US Aide: US Senate Will Not Vote On Graham Cassidy Health Bill
• Where now for Federal Reserve policy? - ING
• Fed's Yellen: Currently not considering changing inflation target
• US Consumer Confidence: Hurricanes weigh on data in September - Wells Fargo
• Fed's Yellen: U.S. labour market is getting tighter
• DXY invigorated by Fed's Yellen remarks
• 78% chance of Fed hike at Dec meeting - CME Group's FedWatch
• Fed's Bostic: Open-minded about December rate increase
• US Home Prices continue upward momentum - Wells Fargo