Nasdaq up 0.34% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - New York, 09 Jul - US shares opened higher to tap new records as investors prepared for testimony to Congress from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell that could provide more clues on where interest rates are heading.

The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq both rose yesterday to chalk up record highs as technology stocks continue to underpin growth.

With no major data on the agenda, all eyes are on Fed chief Powell who will start his semiannual address to Congress later today in front of the Senate Banking Committee. He will then repeat the address tomorrow before the House Financial Services Committee.

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.

On the corporate front, technology stocks were generally higher in early trade after healthy gains bagged yesterday with Intel up 3% and chipmakers Nvidia and Micron Technology also ahead.

Smart Global Holdings (SGH), which makes computing and memory technology, is set to report results after the closing bell.

Just after the opening bell the Dow Jones was up 12.58 points, or 0.03%, at 39,357.37, the S&P 500 was up 11.85 points, or 0.21%, at 5,584.70 while the Nasdaq was up 63.35 points, or 0.34%, at 18,467.08.

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(RADIOCOR) 09-07-24 15:36:59 (0436) 5 NNNN