New York, Jul 13 (IANS): US stocks traded higher on Friday, as Wall Street was buoyed by the two-day monetary policy testimony of the US Federal Reserve's chairman, which opened the door wider for potential rate cuts.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 148.67 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 27,236.75. The S&P 500 was up 6.65 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 3,006.56. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 32.60 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 8,228.64, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Shares of Deutsche Bank rose nearly 0.5 per cent, after Swiss investment bank UBS upgraded the German bank from "sell" to "neutral," saying the latter's restructuring plan would be backed by home regulator, which led to a more "balanced risk/reward" scenario.

Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors traded higher around midday, with the industrials sector up over 1 per cent, leading the gainers.

During his second day of testimony on Thursday, Fed chair Jerome Powell reiterated that the central bank will always do "what's right for the US economy" and called for the Congress to raise debt limit in a timely manner.

The Dow broke through the level of 27,000 points for the first time ever on Thursday. Meanwhile the S&P 500 also hit a record close of over 2,999 points.