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*
Yellen's speech at 1:00 p.m. ET (1700 GMT) is expected to
acknowledge the recent economic sluggishness, including near
stagnant performance in the first few months of the year.
* Before Yellen takes the podium, data is expected to show that
consumer prices rose for a third straight month in April,
signaling a rise in inflation, which could keep the Fed on
track to raise rates. The Consumer Price Index data is due at
8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT).
* The S&P 500 <.SPX> ended at 2,130.82 on Thursday, barely
beating its previous record close of 2,129.2 from Monday.
* While the Dow and the S&P are near record levels this week,
trading has stayed in a narrow range and volumes have been
subdued as the quarterly earnings season draws to a close.
* Aeropostale <ARO.N> slumped 22.8 percent to $2 in premarket
trading after the teen apparel retailer estimated a
bigger-than-expected quarterly loss.
* ELong soared 35.8 percent to $28.04 after Expedia said it sold
its entire stake in the Chinese online travel company to rival
Ctrip.com and others. Ctrip was up 4.9 percent at $75.50.
* Foot Locker was up 3.9 percent at $66.10 and Deere & Co rose
1.8 percent to $91.05 after the companies posted
better-than-expected quarterly profits.
* BlackBerry shares rose 2.2 percent to $10.50 on the smartphone
maker's plans to buy back stock.
Futures snapshot at 7:24 a.m. ET (1124 GMT): * S&P 500 e-minis
were up 0.5 points, or 0.02 percent, with 57,049 contracts
traded. * Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 3.5 points, or 0.08
percent, on volume of 7,831 contracts. * Dow e-minis were
up 14 points, or 0.08 percent, with 12,980 contracts changing
hands.
(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
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