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DJIA Industrial Average

April 5

Open: 12402.08

High: 12438.14

Low: 12353.34

Close: 12393.90

Change: -6.13 (-0.05%)

RSI: 81

MACD: 87

Strategy: Stocks in US remained quiet to move in a narrow range on Tuesday in absence of any major cues as investors were busy trying to interpret the minutes of Fed meet. DJIA is trying to regain feet above 12300 points.

Commentary:

U.S. stocks closed on a nearly flat note Tuesday, after trading in a narrow band for a major part of the day, even though some of the stocks failed to support the fresh rally in materials and closed lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped just 6.13 points, or 0.05%, to close at 12,393.90. The S&P 500 slipped less than 1 point to 1,332 and the Nasdaq Composite edged up 2 points to 2,791, with materials leading the modest rally.

The Dow constituents which advanced in the session included Alcoa 2.79%, Intel 1.12%, Chevron 1.02% and Cisco 0.95%

However, the index laggards in the day included stocks like General Electric -0.97%, Boeing -0.97%, Proctor & gamble -0.95% and Caterpillar -0.95%.

An aggregate of 13 Dow constituents advanced in the day and another 13 stocks closed lower.

Amongst the major sectors, Industrials 1.05%, Tech 0.17% and Healthcare 0.14% closed higher in the day.

However, consumables, capital goods and financials remained as the laggards amongst the various sectors.

The market came under pressure after meeting minutes from the Federal Reserve raised speculation that the U.S. central bank could raise rates later this year.

However, the bright spot of the day came in shape of gains logged by semiconductor companies after Texas Instruments announced a $6.5 billion bid on Monday evening for rival National Semiconductor. Shares of National Semiconductor surged 72%.

Meanwhile, Nasdaq OMX Group announced Tuesday it will rebalance its tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 index, and slash Apple's weight by almost 40%. Apple shares slipped about 0.7%.

However, the readjustment also means a subsequent rise in weight of Google, Microsoft and Intel Corp. from May this year.

Shares of Expedia advanced 1.3%, after American Airlines announced the two companies will resume doing business together after reaching an agreement on airfare sales.

The market remained cautious following a surprise interest rate hike by The People's Bank of China and another downgrade of Portugal's sovereign debt.

Investors are now expecting the European Central Bank to announce plans to increase interest rates on Thursday.

The dollar advanced against the euro and the Japanese yen, but fell against the British pound.

Crude oil for May delivery slipped marginally to $108.34 a barrel.

Gold futures for June delivery surged $21.60 to another record high of $1,450.01 an ounce in non-inflation adjusted terms. Silver also gained to a new fresh high of $38.11 per ounce for June futures.

The Day Ahead

Wednesday

EIA Petroleum Status