Wall Street scores marginally higher record closes

• The Dow, S&P and Nasdaq all scored closing records. 
• Citigroup which has started off the unofficial start of earnings.
• Solid industrial production and retail sales data from China keep bulls in the game.

U.S. stocks chalked up a modest gain at the start of the week, while investors cheered some positive results from Citigroup which has started off the unofficial start of earnings season for the second quarter. However, concerns over the health of the global economy continue to swirl overheads following a weak gross domestic product reading in China, with growth falling to its slowest pace since 1992. However, there was something for both the bulls and the bears in the data dump, with solid industrial production and retail sales data set which helped sooth the pain felt from the GDP numbers. 

As for individual benchmarks, the S&P 500 was up by less than 0.1% to 3,014, based on preliminary figures for a fresh record close. The Dow and Nasdaq also scored closing records with the DJIA ending near 27,359 while the Nasdaq Composite finished 0.1% higher to close around 8,258. As for Citigroup, the shares dropped by 0.1% despite reporting second-quarter profits rising by 4.8% and above expectations. 

US data

As for data, the New York Empire State Manufacturing Index climbed 12.9 points in July to 4.3. Analysts at ANZ Bank explained in detail:

"This was significantly higher than market expectations which were weighted down by the sharp fall in the index the previous month. New orders are still falling, albeit at a slower pace. Shipment increased and unfilled orders and inventories both decreased. Of particular interest to the markets was the index for future business conditions which increased five points to 30.8, while the index for new orders was also positive indicating businesses are fairly optimistic about future conditions."
 

DJIA levels

Bulls have managed a higher close, but the efforts were lacklustre and on a bearish correction, there are three distinct Fibo' targets with the confluence of stop territories. The 23.6% retracement of the 3rd June low to 12th July recently printed high falls in at 26706 which meets April 23rd and 1st May double-top highs. The 38.2% retracement of the same range falls in at 26324 and meets 25th Feb and 11th June highs. The 50% meets the 3rd Dec spike high and mid-June lows. On the upside, the 28500s remains as a key target.