"Yield Surge Ahead of Powell Speech Dampens Wall Street Opening"

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 rose as investors awaited comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and more data to gauge the central bank's interest-rate path. Megacap tech stocks including Apple, Meta Platforms, Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft advanced, while Nvidia rose after Goldman Sachs added the chipmaker's stock to its conviction list. Tesla, however, dipped after missing market estimates for third-quarter deliveries. Information technology stocks jumped, while utilities were the top decliner among the major S&P 500 sectors. Investors are also awaiting job openings data and the monthly jobs report for more clues on the Fed's interest-rate path.