DJIA up 92.54 points (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - New York, 10 Jul - US shares were trading higher at midday as investors braced for more congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to glean insights into interest rate policy.

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 any pivot on monetary policy is possible.

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

Investors will be closely monitoring his answers today as he testifies before a House committee to try and find more clues on the timing and scale of any possible rate cuts.

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

On the stocks front, shares in LegalZoom.com slumped more than 27% after the company cut its full-year revenue guidance and its CEO left. Air Products shares were higher after Honeywell agreed to buy its LNG business for 1.81 billion dollars.

On the data front, US wholesale trade inventories rose 0.6% month on month to 901.7 billion dollars in May from the revised April number, according to data by the US Census Bureau.

At 1632 GMT, the Dow Jones was up 92.54 points, or 0.24%, at 39,384.51 points.

The S&P 500 was 22.01 points, or 0.39%, higher at 5,598.99 points.

The Nasdaq was gaining 101.11 points, or 0.55%, at 18,528.20 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 10-07-24 17:35:18 (0506) 5 NNNN