Powell is set to testify Wednesday in what will be his first public appearance since a strong June jobs report dampened expectations for aggressive Fed action.

Futures markets still overwhelmingly believe the Fed will cut later this month but some analysts say the Fed could also make no changes.

"Today, the big question is: will the Fed cut in July or not?" said Adam Sarhan, 50 Park Investments. "The immediate pressure on the Fed to cut was removed because of the jobs report."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.1 percent at 26,783.49.

The broad-based added 0.1 percent at 2,979.63, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.5 percent to 8,141.73.