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DJIA Industrial Average

February 28

Open: 12,130.45

High: 12,235.04

Low: 12,130.15

Close: 12,226.34

Change: +95.89 (+0.79%)

RSI: 53

MACD: 87.4

Strategy: The US markets closed with some gains despite some selling pressure in the afternoon to ensure that February also closed with a smart 3% gains in all. The market is showing signs of consolidation before trying to find higher levels in near future.

Commentary

Despite slight selling pressure in the afternoon, stocks in US settled in positive ground Monday. That helped secure the sixth straight monthly gain for both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, and the third straight monthly gain for the Dow.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 96 points, or 0.8%, on Monday while the S&P 500 rose 3 points, or 0.2% and the Nasdaq closed flat for the day. Overall, all three major indexes were up nearly 3% during the month.

The Dow constituents which advanced Monday handsomely were headed by Johnson & Johnson 3.02%, Verizon 2.64%, Hewlett Packard 2.23% and 3M 2.19%.

However, the index components which closed lower included Intel Corp. -1.78%, Coca Cola -0.61%, Boeing -0.40% and Cisco -0.43%.

Out of the 30 Dow components, 25 stocks closed with some advances and the remaining 5 closed a little lower.

The sectors to remain in focus included Telecom (+1.5%), Utilities (+1.0%), Materials (+1.0%), Health Care (+0.9%), Energy (+0.6%) and Consumer Discretionary (+0.6%). None of the sectors retraced in the day.

A report the economic indicator released during the day suggested that personal incomes climbed 1% in January. The same got investors in an upbeat mood early in the day, even though most of that increase was due to a 2% payroll tax holiday. The same, however, faded out later in the day following some profit booking.

Elsewhere, a report on Chicago-area manufacturing showing that sector accelerated at a faster-than-expected pace in February. The Chicago PMI rose to 71.2 from 68.8 in January. This was higher than economists’ expectations.

Meanwhile, pending home sales fell 2.8% for the past month which was better than the deeper 3.2% fall anticipated by economists.

In company news, Amazon shares fell more than 2.2% after UBS downgraded its stock to "neutral."

Shares of Overstock.com soared 9%, after the retailer announced earnings that beat Wall Street estimates.

3M gained 2.2% on reports that the comnpany is likely to launch a new product that is likely to gain popularity in the market.

The US $ fell against the euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen as the Dollar Index closed on a weak footing.

Oil for April delivery retraced nominally to $96.97 per barrel

Gold futures for April delivery inched up to $1409.90 an ounce.

The Day Ahead

Tuesday

ISM Mfg Index for Feb

Motor Vehicles sales for Feb