• Wall Street opens the week with marginal gains with investors relieved by decline in Oil prices.
• Dow Jones treads water near 39,000 level as rebound from Friday’s high stalls. 
• Bias remains skewed to the downside with all eyes on Wednesday’s US CPI figures.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) has opened the week with minor advances, favoured by some risk appetite. Oil prices have retreated from multi-month highs as tensions in the Middle East ease somewhat, which has provided some relief to equity investors on Monday.

The market, however, is in a wait-and-see mode with traders reluctant to take excessive risks ahead of Wednesday’s US Consumer Prices Index data. US Inflation is expected to have accelerated to 3.4% in March from the 3.2% yearly rate in February, although core CPI is seen cooling to 3.7% from a 3.8% annual reading in the previous month.

All the main Wall Street indices are positive on Monday. The NASDAQ is leading with a 0.1% advance to 16,267, while the S&P 500, at 5,206, and the Dow Jones, at 38,913, post marginal gains.

Dow Jones news

Down to sectors, Consumer Discretionary is leading gains with a 0.8% advance, followed by Real Estate, which is up 0.5%. At the bottom of the ranking on Monday is the Health sector, dropping by 0.48%, and Energy, 0.32% below Friday’s close.

Nike (NKE) is the best Dow performer on Monday with a 1.42% increase to $90.11, followed by 3M (MMM) gaining 0.97% to $91.90. On the losing end, Merck (MRK) drops 1.5% to $126.02, and Intel (INTL) takes a further 1.2% decline to $38.25.

Dow Jones technical outlook

The Dow Jones index is trading practically flat with oscillators showing a lack of clear direction. The DJIA is still in a bearish correction from the 39,986 historic high hit in late March.

The recovery attempt from Friday’s lows has stalled below previous lows, at the 39,00 area, and with a supply zone at the 39,250 area likely to offer significant resistance. On the downside, the 38,540 level is still in play and might be revisited if US CPI posts a positive surprise on Wednesday. Below here, 38,035 would be exposed