US stocks have opened slightly higher as the market looked ahead to congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Five minutes into trade on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 16.11 (0.10 per cent) to 15,403.69.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 1.37 (0.08 per cent) at 1,670.53, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index increased 0.68 (0.02 per cent) to 3,502.80.

Bernanke’s testimony has been eagerly anticipated for clues as to when the Federal Reserve will scale back its aggressive monetary stimulus measures.

Many analysts expect Bernanke to signal a status-quo policy, owing to the uncertain nature of the economic recovery.

“We anticipate that Bernanke will walk the line of the latest policy directive, reiterating that the Fed could adjust its purchases up or down depending on the incoming data and leaving the impression that the data, while improving on some fronts, isn’t at a point where there is a true sense of conviction the Fed is satisfactorily meeting its dual mandate,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.