US Futures Mixed; Powell Testimony and Bank Earnings in Focus By Investing.com – Investing.com

US Futures Mixed; Powell Testimony and Bank Earnings in Focus By Investing.com – Investing.com

© Reuters.

By Peter Nurse   

Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening mixed in tight trading Wednesday, ahead of eagerly-awaited testimony from Fed chair Jerome Powell as well as more inflation data and fresh earnings from some of the country’s senior banks.

At 7 AM ET (1100 GMT), the contract was down just 6 points, or less than 0.1%, while traded 3 points, or 0.1%, higher and gained 45 points, or 0.3%.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen head to Capitol Hill later Wednesday for the two-day semi-annual testimony on the state of the country’s monetary policy.

This comes a day after another stronger-than-expected report, and investors will be looking to see if this latest release changes his belief that inflation will be largely temporary in nature.

Ahead of this potential drama comes the release of data for June, at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT), which is expected to have risen by a massive 6.8% on the year, a monthly gain of 0.6%.

In the corporate sector, the banking sector continues to dominate the second-quarter earnings season, with Bank of America (NYSE:) getting the day off to a disappointing start,