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Stocks opened slightly lower for trading on Wednesday morning,

Near 9:48 a.m. ET, the Dow was down 3 points, the S&P 500 was unchanged, and the Nasdaq was up 11.

The S&P 500 crossed above 2,100 for the first time in four weeks on Tuesday.

Near noon today, Fed chair Janet Yellen will give a speech at the Economics Club of Washington. She’ll also testify on the economy before a joint committee of Congress on Thursday. These will be her last public speeches before the Fed’s meeting later this month.

« Dr. Yellen won’t say anything which could be interpreted as seeking to front-run the outcome of the meeting; that’s not her style, » wrote Pantheon Macroeconomics chief economist Ian Shepherdson to clients. « But we expect her clearly to repeat that the Fed’s decision will depend on whether progress has been made since October towards the Fed’s twin objectives of maximum employment and 2% inflation. »

The Fed’s beige book with economic anecdotes from its districts will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Earlier today, ADP’s private payrolls report showed growth by 217,000 in November, beating the forecast for 190,000.

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