Wall Street stocks regained some ground on Wednesday while traders kept watch on the congressional testimony of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 percent to 38,661.05, while the broad-based S&P 500 Index jumped 0.5 percent to 5,104.76.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.6 percent to close at 16,031.54.

But major tech companies such as Apple and Alphabet saw their shares move lower.

There were also concerns surrounding embattled lender New York Community Bancorp, which announced on Wednesday that it has lined up more than US$1 billion from investors led by the firm of former US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Shares of NYCB gained 7.5 percent to end the day.

"We were very much poised for a rebound. We had a minor bounce at the end of the day yesterday and that carried forward this morning," said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.

He added that the market was "not shaken" by Powell's comments.

While traders were nervous ahead of the Fed chief's testimony, his remarks were "pretty close" to those after the most recent Fed meeting, Sosnick added.

Investors will also be watching for Powell's remarks on Thursday and a US employment report on Friday. (AFP)