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

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Powell Congressional testimony on Tuesday and Wednesday

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Indexes up: Dow 0.70%, S&P 0.24%, Nasdaq 0.12%

(Updated at 9:48 a.m. ET)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Ankika Biswas

July 8 (Reuters) -

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 hit record highs on Monday, while

the Dow scaled a more than one-month high as investors awaited a

key inflation report, Congressional testimony from Federal

Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and the start of earnings season

this week.

Expectations for interest-rate cuts as early as September

received a boost 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.

Investors, however, will seek a clearer picture of the Fed's

likely monetary policy trajectory for the rest of the year.

Traders now see a 74% chance of a 25-basis-point cut in

September, up from last week's 60%, while expecting an overall

reduction of about 50 bps for the year, according to CME's

FedWatch and LSEG data.

On the economic front, this week's consumer and producer

price index data will be closely watched to gauge whether price

pressures are easing.

"The fact of the matter is the Fed has a dual mandate and

their mandate is employment and inflation. Inflation is going

down and unemployment is going up," said Thomas Hayes, chairman

at Great Hill Capital LLC.

"They now have cover to make a cut when they want to and

signs point toward September."

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at all-time highs as

megacap tech stocks such as Meta Platforms ( META ) and

Microsoft ( MSFT ) touched record peaks.

However, megacaps including Alphabet,

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Meta Platforms ( META ) shed between

0.4% and 1.3%. Tesla fell 2.4% after jumping to its

highest level this year on Friday.

Chip stocks Nvidia ( NVDA ), Intel ( INTC ), Marvell

Technology ( MRVL ), Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) and Qualcomm ( QCOM )

jumped between 1% and 5%, helping the Philadelphia SE

Semiconductor Index gain 2%.

Major banks including Citigroup ( C/PN ), JPMorgan Chase ( JPM )

and Wells Fargo ( WFC ) are slated to kick off the

second-quarter earnings season on Friday. Their shares rose

nearly 1% each on the day.

While the S&P 500 Financial Index was the top

sectoral gainer, Communication Services was the

biggest laggard.

The small-cap Russell 2000 gained nearly 1%.

Investors are focusing on earnings to see if a

stratospheric jump in a handful of megacap stocks such as Nvidia ( NVDA )

can justify their pricey valuations.

Markets will also watch Powell's semi-annual testimony

before U.S. Senate and House committees on July 9 and 10

closely, as well as commentary from several other Fed officials

through the week.

At 9:48 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was

up 276.53 points, or 0.70%, at 39,652.40, the S&P 500 was

up 13.11 points, or 0.24%, at 5,580.30, and the Nasdaq Composite

was up 21.41 points, or 0.12%, at 18,374.17.

Paramount Global ( PARAA ) reversed its premarket course and

fell 2.3% after Sunday's announcement of a merger with Skydance

Media.

Planemaker Boeing gained 2.3% after agreeing 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 decliners by a 2.10-to-1

ratio on the NYSE, and by a 2.10-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 17 new 52-week highs and one new low,

while the Nasdaq recorded 48 new highs and 36 new lows.

(Reporting by Lisa Mattackal and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru;

Editing by Anil D'Silva and Pooja Desai)