Nasdaq futures up 58.25 points (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - New York, 10 Jul - US futures were mainly higher ahead of a second day of congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Wall Street ended mixed yesterday with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both ticking up to post yet more record highs as gains in the technology sector drive indexes higher. The Dow ended slightly lower.

In testimony before the Senate Banking Committee yesterday, Powell reiterated the Fed's recent mantra that progress has been made on bringing down inflation though more evidence is needed showing it is firmly on its way towards the central bank's 2% target before interest rates can be cut.

But Powell also said reducing policy restraint too late or too little could unduly weaken economic activity and employment in comments that raised hopes cuts could be sooner rather than later.

Investors will be closely monitoring his answers today before a House committee to try and find more clues on where monetary policy is heading short term.

According to the CME FedWatch Tool, the market is pricing in a 75% chance the Fed cuts rates in September.

On the stocks front, shares in LegalZoom.com slumped more than 20% after the company cut its full-year revenue guidance and its CEO left. Air Products shares were up 3.5% after Honeywell agreed to buy its LNG business for 1.81 billion dollars.

Futures on the Dow Jones were down 4.00 points, or 0.01%, S&P 500 futures were up 8.75 points, or 0.16%, while futures on the Nasdaq were 58.25 points, or 0.28%, higher.

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(RADIOCOR) 10-07-24 13:54:48 (0343) 5 NNNN