(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 29 apr - US shares were trading lower at midday amid rising oil prices as investors steeled for big tech earnings and Jerome Powell's last interest-rate decision as Federal Reserve chair.

The Fed is widely expected to stay pat on interest rates in light of concerns over possible inflationary pressure from the US-Iran conflict. Attention will instead be focused on whether Powell will give up his seat on the Fed's board as his mandate ends after the Senate Banking Committee confirmed US pPresident Donald Trump's chair pick, Kevin Warsh, sending his nomination to the full Senate for confirmation.

Four members of the so-called 'Magnificent Seven' stocks are scheduled to unveil their latest earnings after the closing bell with Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft all on the block. Investors will be watching the scale of investments in AI projects to see if the heavy layouts show through in terms of revenue growth.

Oil prices meantime continued to rise after a report Trump has told aides to prepare for an extended blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most critical waterway for global energy flows.

At 1517 GMT, the Dow Jones was down 277.75 points, or 0.57%, at 48,863.62 points.

The S&P 500 was 9.56 points, or 0.13%, lower at 7,129.24 points.

The Nasdaq was losing 13.63 points, or 0.06%, at 24,647.97.

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(RADIOCOR) 29-04-26 17:22:09 (0633) 5 NNNN