US stocks rise as Yellen warns on US economy

Wall Street stocks rose early Wednesday as congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen highlighted the risks to US growth from economic turmoil overseas.

About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 16,112.14, up 97.76 points (0.61 percent).

The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 18.65 (1.01 percent) to 1,870.86, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 70.87 (1.66 percent) to 4,339.63.

Expressing concerns that were not nearly as pronounced the last time she spoke publicly in December, Yellen said in prepared testimony to Congress that the outlook for the US economy had become more cloudy.

She made no comment on whether the Fed still expected to continue raising interest rates this year, but her concerns probably lowered the possibility of an increase in its next policy meeting in mid-March following the first hike in December in more than nine years.

Yellen gave "no specific signal" on the mid-March meeting, "although there is enough focus on downside risks now to make a tightening move again that soon seem quite unlikely," said Jim O'Sullivan, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics.

The gains in the US came as European equity markets also steadied after two days of bruising losses.

Banking shares rose, with JPMorgan Chase climbing 1.3 percent, Citigroup 3.0 percent and Goldman Sachs 2.1 percent.

Technology shares were also higher. Apple rose 1.3 percent, Amazon 2.8 percent, Facebook 2.3 percent and Google parent Alphabet 2.5 percent.

Disney dropped 3.9 percent despite reporting that fiscal first-quarter earnings jumped 32 percent to $2.9 billion, easily topping analyst expectations following record-setting sales of its "Star Wars" blockbuster movie. The selloff reflected concerns about the long-term outlook for its ESPN sports network and other cable channels.

Time Warner plunged 6.6 percent as fourth-quarter revenue came in at $7.1 billion, well below the $7.5 billion projected by analysts.

SolarCity plummeted 27.0 percent after projecting a loss of $2.55-$2.65 per share in the first quarter, more than the $2.36 forecast by analysts.