Wall Street opens mildly lower as eyes fixed on Powell's testimony

US stock indices opened the second session of the week lower as markets follow Fed Chair Jerome Powell's testimony before the House of Representatives today, and after a basket of data from the world's largest economy. 

Powell expressed admiration for former Chair Janet Yellen's work to strengthen the economy and normalize the balance sheet, lauding her for helping to smooth out the transition and provide continuity in monetary policy. 

Powell expected the Fed to continue tightening monetary policy gradually, while pointing to economic outlook as strong, asserting the importance of balancing the push of inflation just towards the target and not beyond it, adding that labor strength will underpin spending and income. 

Earlier US data showed durable goods orders fell 3.7% in January, compared to a 2.8% rise in December, and missing expectations of a 2.4% drop, while core orders also fell 0.3%, compared to a 0.7% rise in December and missing forecasts of 0.4% rise. 

The goods trade deficit widened while wholesale inventories rose past expectations in January, as the House Price index slowed more than expected in December. 

The Richmond Manufacturing Index rose to 28 in February from 14 in January, beating expectations of 15, while the CB consumer confidence survey rose to 130.8 in February from 124.3 in January, beating forecasts of 126.2. 

As of 03:57 GMT, Standard and Poor's 500 fell 0.38%, or 10.48 points to 2,769.12, while Dow Jones shed 0.32%, or 83.10 points to 25,626.17. 

Tech-heavy NASDAQ gave up 0.47%, or 35.09 points to 7,386.37.