Video: As Stocks Slump, The Focus Turns to Fed Chief Yellen's Speech on Interest Rate Hike

Wall Street continued to drop as many analysts await Fed Chief Janet Yellen's speech at the University of Massachusetts at 5pm EST today. The S&P 500 was down 1.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.5%, and the Nasdaq slid 1.5%. 

"What I'm seeing is more skittishness about Fed action," Tim Dreiling, senior portfolio manager at U.S. Bank's Private Client Reserve, told TheStreet on the day's big losses.

Jeanna Smialek of Bloomberg reported that "the Federal Reserve held interest rates near zero last week, though 13 of 17 policy makers still expect a rise this year." That forecast faces a major threat: The concerns that persuaded officials to delay action are just as likely to escalate over the next three months as to die down.

Check back later today for details of Yellen's speech.

To read more on Interest Rates from MG click here

To see more videos from Bloomberg click here