US STOCKS-Wall Street subdued ahead of Powell, Yellen testimonies

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* Oil, travel stocks slip on virus concerns
* GameStop drops ahead of quarterly results
* Indexes flat: Dow 0.01%, S&P 0.08%, Nasdaq 0.03%

(Updates to market open)
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
March 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street was muted on Tuesday as
energy stocks slipped, while investors marked time ahead of
remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury
Secretary Janet Yellen for clues about their tolerance for
higher bond yields.
The S&P energy index .SPNY shed 1.5% as oil prices slumped
more than 3% on fears that new pandemic curbs and slow vaccine
rollouts in Europe will slow a recovery in demand. O/R
The U.S. equity market rallied on Monday as investors
rotated out of undervalued economy-linked banks and energy
stocks and moved into tech-focused shares in a slight reversal
of this year's trend.
"It really is a sense of confusion as the market searches
for the next leadership or the continued leadership from value
stocks," said Julian Emanuel, chief equity and derivatives
strategist at BTIG.
The benchmark S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow have rallied
about 79% from their pandemic lows hit exactly a year ago, while
the tech-heavy Nasdaq has doubled in value.
The CBOE volatility index .VIX eased to its lowest level
in 13 months.
Powell is expected to reiterate his confidence in the
economy's growth while cautioning the recovery is far from
complete. Yellen is likely to paint an optimistic picture of the
economy before the U.S. lawmakers later in the day. Their
congressional hearings begin at 12 p.m. ET (1600 GMT).
At 10:17 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 2.53 points, or 0.01%, at 32,733.73, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 3.22 points, or 0.08%, at 3,943.81, and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 4.62 points, or 0.03%, at 13,382.16.
Shares of videogame retailer GameStop Corp GME.N dropped
3.4% ahead of its fourth-quarter results due after markets
close. The company announced the exit of its chief customer
officer in the latest sign of a broader overhaul into an
e-commerce firm. ViacomCBS Inc VIAC.O tumbled about 8% after the media firm
launched $3 billion stock deals to raise capital for investments
in streaming. U.S.-listed shares of Chinese internet search provider Baidu
Inc BIDU.O slid 3% following a flat Hong Kong debut as
investors were wary of a fundraising flurry in the city and
questioned the company's growth plans. Declining issues outnumbered advancers 2.30-to-1 on the NYSE
and 2.97-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded eight new 52-week highs and no new
low, while the Nasdaq recorded 29 new highs and 22 new lows.