DJIA down 78.45 points (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - New York, 09 Jul - US shares were trading mixed at midday as investors digested comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell.

In testimony before Congress, Powell said that elevated inflation is not the only risk the US faces.

'Reducing policy restraint too late or too little could unduly weaken economic activity and employment," he said.

The Fed last week acknowledged progress has been made in bringing down inflation towards its 2% target rate but cautioned it still wants to see more evidence the easing is sustainable before it starts to cut rates.

Buoyed by recent data, investors are growing increasingly confident a first rate cut will come in September. With this in mind, a key focus this week will Thursday's inflation data for June which could help swing the argument on monetary policy in favour of at least one cut sometime this year.

At 1618 GMT, the Dow Jones was losing 78.45 points, or 0.23%, at 39,254.35 points.

The S&P 500 was 9.57 points, or 0.17%, higher at 5,582.42 points.

The Nasdaq was gaining 43.51 points, or 0.24%, at 18,447.02 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 09-07-24 17:20:21 (0502) 5 NNNN