Dow struggles for gains early Tuesday ahead of Powell's pandemic testimony

U.S. stock benchmarks edged lower Tuesday morning, as investors await congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Powell will testify before the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic at 2 p.m. Eastern, for his first public appearance since last Wednesday when the Fed chief acknowledged that policy makers had started to discuss the eventual reduction of the Fed's monthly bond purchases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.04% was down 0.1% at 33,863, the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.13% slipped less than a point at 4,224, the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.09% was down less than 0.1% at 14,139. In corporate news, shares of GameStop Corp. GME, +8.57% said Tuesday that it has completed an at-the-market equity offering after issuing 5 million shares to raise about $1.126 billion.