The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to move to the upside following the mixed performance seen in the previous session.

Stocks may benefit from optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of several key economic events this week.

However, early trading is likely to be impacted by reaction to remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is due to deliver his semi-annual monetary policy testimony before the Senate Banking Committee this morning.

Powell is also scheduled to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, with his remarks potentially having a significant impact on the outlook for rates.

Later in the week, the Labor Department is scheduled to release reports on consumer and producer price inflation, which could have an even more profound impact on interest rate expectations.

If the report on consumer prices shows an expected slowdown in the annual rate of price growth, it could bolster optimism about a rate cut in September.

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Monday, turning a bit sluggish after a fairly good start. Among the major averages, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 moved on to new record highs, while the Dow ended in negative territory.

The Dow edged down 31.08 points or 0.1 percent to 39,344.79. The S&P 500 ended higher by 5.66 points or 0.1 percent to 5,572.85, while the Nasdaq rose 50.98 points or 0.3 percent to 18,403.74.

Optimism about the outlook for interest rates aided stocks earlier in the session. However, the mood turned a bit cautious as the day progressed, with investors looking ahead to the data on consumer and producer prices and Powell’s congressional testimony this week.

On the economic front, a leading indicator for payroll employment in the U.S. decreased in June, extending the declining trend over the past several months, and a signaled a slowdown in payroll hiring in the second half of the year, survey data from the Conference Board showed.

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index fell to 110.27 in June from a downwardly revised 111.04 in May.

Networking stocks found good support. Shares of semiconductor and hardware companies also moved higher, contributing significantly to the gain by the Nasdaq.

Nvidia gained nearly 2 percent. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. shares rallied 4 percent. Intel surged more than 6 percent, and Dell Technologies climbed 5 percent.

Broadcom Inc., Home Depot, Qualcomm, Applied Materials, Texas Instruments, GE Aerospace, Morgan Stanley, IBM, Booking Holdings Inc., Citigroup, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Lowe’s and Analog Devices also closed notably higher.

Meanwhile, Nike, Comcast Corporation, Abott Laboratories, McDonald’s Corporation, Cisco Systems, Wells Fargo, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Visa and Meta Platforms ended weak.