US stocks open lower, 20,000 mark still elusive for Dow

The US equity markets kicked off the first full trading week of 2017 on a cautious note and opened mostly in negative territory.  

Slump in crude oil prices, with WTI crude oil sharply lower by over 2%, weighed on investor sentiment and pulled down energy stocks. Investors on Monday looked forward to the start of corporate earnings season and comments from Federal Reserve speaker, which might provide some fresh insights over the Fed rate-hike cycle in 2017 and might provide some impetus during NY trading session. 

At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was down over 50-point to 19,915, while the broader S&P 500 Index slipped 5-points to 2,272. However, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index bucked the negative tone and inched up 5-points to 5,525. 

Monday's slide took DJIA dragged farther away from 20,000 key psychological level as investors now look for valuations to be justified by incoming economic data and corporate profits. It is worth mentioning that the blue-chip index has gained nearly 10% over the past three months, on growing bets that aggressive fiscal policies by the incoming Donald Trump administration would support US economic growth.