US equity indices open higher, Dow hits all time high

On the first day of a fresh trading week, major US equity indices opened higher, shrugging off Italian referendum jitters, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) hitting a fresh all time high.

During opening trade, DJIA gained over 80-point and jumped to 19,255, while the broader S&P 500 index rose over 10-points and was hovering back around 2,200 mark. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gained over 25-points to 5,285.

The final outcome of the Italy's referendum on constitutional reforms has raised the need for ECB to extend its monthly asset purchase program, beyond its scheduled end in March. The European Central Bank is scheduled to hold its regular monetary policy meeting on Thursday and is largely expect to include some extension of its asset buying program.

The backing of ECB to prevent any negative fallout from today's Italian referendum, combined with expectations of aggressive fiscal stimulus by Trump administration, helped lift investors’ sentiment and is supporting the buoyant sentiment surrounding US equity market.

Technical outlook

Carol Harmer, Founder at charmertradingacademy.com, notes, "We came back to trendline support at 2187 and have bounced...currently back above 2200 but I have to say.. and say emphatically that unless the market opens above 2205 it will be in trouble again.."

She further writes, "Below 2187 we have the 2175 support from previous highs that will now support....If we lose this support then I'm afraid that the outlook for the S&P is quite bleak...ATH is @ 2214..."