US STOCKS-Wall St edges higher as Fed's Powell testifies before Congress

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* Powell says 'sustained expansion' likely for U.S. economy
* Alibaba slips on planned $13.4 bln Hong Kong listing
* Indexes up: Dow 0.14%, S&P 0.10%, Nasdaq 0.04%

(Changes comment, updates market action)
By Arjun Panchadar
Nov 13 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes turned
slightly higher on Wednesday as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome
Powell said the central bank saw a "sustained expansion" ahead
for the U.S. economy.
His comments are widely watched as the Fed lowered borrowing
costs three times this year to cushion the world's largest
economy from a global slowdown.
Powell added that the full impact of the interest rate cuts
were yet to be felt, as he testified before the Congress.
Meanwhile, data showed U.S. consumer prices rebounded more
than expected in October and underlying inflation picked up. "It looks like not a lot of action today ... inflation still
seems to be in check and the Fed does not seem to concerned
about it," said Jeff Kravetz, regional investment director, U.S.
Bank Private Wealth Management.
Five of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher led by
gains in defensive names such as utilities .SPLRCU , real
estate .SPLRCR and consumer staples .SPLRCS , indicating
investor caution.
Impeachment inquiries on U.S. President Donald Trump as well
as geopolitical tensions such as the escalating anti-government
protests in Hong Kong are factors that investors are keeping a
close eye on.
The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX and Nasdaq .IXIC hit all-time
highs on Tuesday, but pulled back slightly after Trump dangled
the prospect of completing an initial trade deal with China
"soon," but offered no new details on negotiations. The three major U.S. stock indexes have had a strong start
to this month on the back of a strong corporate earnings season
and hopes of a trade deal.
"We are coming to a critical time ... as we get to the end
of the year, trade tensions may spill over to the consumer side
which may have a more dire effect on the economy and the
markets," Kravetz said.
At 11:45 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 37.96 points, or 0.14%, at 27,729.45, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 3.04 points, or 0.10%, at 3,094.88 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 3.77 points, or 0.04%, at 8,489.86.
However, the financial sector .SPSY fell 0.40%, tracking a
drop in benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields and weighed the
most on the S&P 500 index. US/
Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA.N slipped 2.6% as
the Chinese e-commerce giant revealed plans to launch a Hong
Kong share sale to raise up to $13.4 billion. SmileDirectClub Inc SDC.O slumped about 19% as the teeth
alignment company posted a bigger quarterly loss and pointed
towards more losses for the year. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.20-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.44-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 17 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 53 new highs and 88 new lows.