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Boeing ( BA ) rises after plea deal in 737 MAX probe

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Paramount Global ( PARAA ) drops after Skydance merger deal

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Fed's Powell to testify in Congress on Tuesday and

Wednesday

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Indexes: S&P 500 up 0.10%, Nasdaq up 0.28%, Dow down 0.08%

(Recasts with record-high closes, adds market details after

close of trading)

By Noel Randewich and Ankika Biswas

July 8 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq notched

record-high closes on Monday as investors awaited fresh

inflation data, commentary from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome

Powell and the start of quarterly earnings season.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) rose nearly 2%, Intel ( INTC ) rallied over

6% and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) added 4%, lifting the

Philadelphia semiconductor index 1.9%.

Traders will scrutinize consumer price data due on Thursday

and producer price data expected on Friday to gauge the Fed's

progress in fighting inflation.

Investors worry that waiting too long to cut interest rates

could damage the labor market and push the economy into a

recession. They will closely monitor Powell's semiannual

testimony before U.S. Senate and House committees on Tuesday and

Wednesday.

"What investors want to hear is a dovish tone and an

acknowledgement that the two-sided risks are more evenly

balanced today, in particular, with respect to the labor

market," said Ross Mayfield, an investment strategy analyst at

Baird.

Expectations for interest rate cuts as early as September

grew after Friday's nonfarm payrolls report showed U.S. job

growth slowed in June - the latest data to point to weakness in

labor market conditions.

Traders now see a greater than 75% chance of a rate cut of

at least 25 basis points by September, up from last week's 60%,

according to CME's FedWatch.

Citigroup ( C/PN ), JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) and Wells Fargo ( WFC )

are slated to kick off Wall Street's second-quarter

earnings season on Friday. Citigroup ( C/PN ) shares gained 1.1%, while

Wells Fargo ( WFC ) lost 1%.

Analysts on average see S&P 500 companies increasing their

aggregate earnings per share by 10.1% in the second quarter, up

from an 8.2% increase in the first quarter, according to LSEG

I/B/E/S.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.10% to end the session at 5,572.85

points.

The Nasdaq gained 0.28% to 18,403.74 points, while the Dow

Jones Industrial Average declined 0.08% to 39,344.79 points.

It was the Nasdaq's fifth straight record-high close and the

S&P 500's fourth straight.

Of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes, six declined, led lower by

communication services, down 1.01%, followed by a

0.59% loss in energy.

Paramount Global ( PARAA ) fell 5.3% after it agreed on

Sunday to merge with Skydance Media, scripting a new chapter for

one of Hollywood's oldest studios.

Boeing ( BA ) gained 0.55% after the planemaker agreed to

plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge and pay a

fine of $243.6 million to resolve a U.S. Justice Department

investigation into two fatal 737 MAX crashes.

Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500

by a 1.3-to-one ratio.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 10.1

billion shares traded, compared with an average of 11.6 billion

shares over the previous 20 sessions.