Investing.com - Australian shares are predicted to open lower on Wednesday, while US stocks saw modest increases as investors perceived Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's congressional testimony as an indication of a likely rate shift in September.
ASX 200 Futures added 0.3% by 8 am AEST. In contrast, the S&P 500 rose by 4.1 points or 0.07% to 5576.98, marking its 36th record closing high for the year and its sixth consecutive day of gains - the longest winning streak since January. Similarly, the NASDAQ Composite closed at another record high.
Tech heavyweights Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) all saw gains, with Tesla shares rallying 3.7%, Nvidia adding 2.5%, and Apple advancing 0.4%, boosting its market cap to $US3.51 trillion.
Investors particularly noted Powell's remarks that "Elevated inflation is not the only risk we face. Reducing policy restraint too late or too little could unduly weaken economic activity and employment."
Locally, investors will shift their focus to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's interest rate decision at noon.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year and 2-Year rates were at 4.366% and 4.211%, respectively.