The Dow Jones Index was up by 114 points or 0.30% at the opening of the Tuesday session to stand at 37852 points. That was another attempt by DJI to reverse its losing streak that extended to six consecutive sessions on Monday, which brought it to within touching distance of YTD lows recorded in January. Notably, the index had been on a steady ascent since November 2023 but got rejected near the psychological level of 40,000 points on March 28th, ushering the current downtrend.
United Health share price was up by 5.60% at the time of writing after it posted a quarterly revenue of $99.79 billion, beating the forecast figure of $99.23 billion. Furthermore, its earnings per share came in at $6.91, beating the forecast estimate by $0.30. Microsoft shares rose by 0.69% at the opening of the New York session, erasing part of the 1.96% loss recorded on Monday. Similarly, Goldman Sachs, the third-largest contributor to the DJIA by weight, also reported better-than-expected results. The investment bank had a 16.3% jump in revenue to $14.21 billion, with the EPS rising by 32% to $11.58.
However, another major company in the Dow Jones index, Home Depot, extended its losing streak to the sixth session in a row, declining by 0.15% in the early New York session and largely reflecting the performance of the DJIA.
Macroeconomic data released on Tuesday did little to prop up the DJIA. The Federal Reserve reported that US industrial production remained flat year-on-year in March. The month-on-month performance followed a similar trend, coming in at 0.4% to match the February figure and match the forecast figure.
Of concern, however, was the 14.7% decline in new home constructions in the US in March. Similarly, there was a decline in building permits issued in the US in the same month from 1.523 million to 1.458 million, missing the forecast 1.514 million. These figures do not augur well for the US property market and could exert some pressure on the DJI.
Technical analysis
The RSI on the Dow Jones index signals a continuation of the downside. This is likely to be the case if resistance persists at 38084. That could see further losses to break the support at 37755, building the momentum to potentially test 37516 in extension. Alternatively, a move above 38084 will signal control by the bulls, with the resistance at 38084 likely to be broken. Furthermore, the resulting momentum could see further gains to test 38585 in extension.
