U.S. stocks are wobbling as Powell tells Congress inflation fight is ongoing

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks wobbled as investors took in testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who told Congress that the central bank has more work to do to tame inflation.

At 11:29 ET (15:29 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2 points or flat, while the S&P 500 was down 0.4% and the NASDAQ Composite slipped 1.2%.

In prepared remarks, Powell said the Fed still had more work to do to quash inflation. "The process of getting inflation back down to 2% has a long way to go," Powell said in the testimony. After today's session in the House, Powell will appear tomorrow in the Senate.

Futures traders expect the Fed will raise rates a quarter of a percentage point when it next meets in July, after pausing on rate hikes at its most recent meeting last week. The Fed has been trying to nudge inflation back toward its 2% target.

Powell’s written remarks note that even as the Fed held off raising interest rates at the meeting last week "nearly all" participants expect further rate increases will be appropriate by the end of the year

Stocks had been rallying in anticipation of the Fed nearing the end of its interest rate hikes, but that rally has stalled in the last few trading sessions.

Shares of FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) slipped 1.3% after the logistics giant reported a drop in quarterly earnings, saying a global shipping downturn has hurt margins for the sector.

Shares of Chinese electric vehicle makers reacted after the country unveiled tax breaks to boost EV sales. Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ:LI) stock rose 2.5%, while Nio Inc. (NYSE:NIO) fell 2.3%, and Xpeng Inc. (NYSE:XPEV) dipped 2.2%.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced its annual sale called Prime Day will be July 11 and 12, adding invite-only deals this year. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission sued the e-commerce giant over its Prime subscriptions, saying it pushed customers to sign up for Prime without their consent. Shares fell 1.2%.