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U.S. stocks open higher to kick off second quarter trading

Xinhua, April 3, 2017 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks opened higher on Monday, the first trading day of the month and the second quarter, as investors mainly digested the newly-released manufacturing data.

The manufacturing index, also known as the purchasing managers index (PMI), registered 57.2 in March, above market estimates of 57 but a decrease of 0.5 percentage point from the previous month reading of 57.7, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said in a report on Monday.

Investors will also keep a close eye on the minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve and March's nonfarm payroll reports later this week.

All three indices posted solid gains in the first quarter, with the S&P 500 closed with a rally of 5.5 percent. However, it is uncertain whether such rally is sustainable in the coming months.

Analysts said there appear to be growing concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump's tax reform, infrastructure spending and deregulation may take longer to pass than initially thought.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 22.70 points, or 0.11 percent, to 20,685.92. The S&P 500 rose 2.64 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,365.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 13.11 points, or 0.22 percent, to 5,924.85.

U.S. stocks rallied in the last week of March, as investors mainly digested a batch of economic reports and speeches delivered by Fed officials. Endi