US stocks up little during early trade, inching closer to record highs

US stocks edged higher, with all the three major indices hovering near record high levels during the opening hour of trade on Thursday and were being supported by comments from the Fed Chair Janet Yellen. 

At the first day of her semiannual testimony, Yellen reaffirmed gradual monetary policy tightening cycle and said that interest rates wouldn't have to rise further to reach a neutral policy stance. The perceived dovish comments remained supportive of the global risk-on trade and drove US stocks higher.

Yellen will again testify on Thursday before the Senate Banking Committee, in a short while from now, while the Fed Governor Lael Brainard is also due to speak on monetary policy later during the NY trading session.

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At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up around 20-points to 21,550, while the broader S&P 500 Index added 3-points to 2,446. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index inched up 5-points to 6,265.

On the economic data front, initial weekly jobless claims fell by 3K to 247K during the week ended July 7, while producer prices ticked higher by 0.1% in June.