Wall Street mixed at the opening bell

Wall Street’s main indices started Monday’s session on a mixed footing, however, stocks were mostly higher as US stimulus cheques began to trickle into American bank accounts. In the early minutes of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4% at 32,910 while the S&P 500 climbed 0.09% at 3,946. The Nasdaq was the outlier as it was down 0.04% at 13,307. The sedate start came despite some upbeat data from the New York Fed's Empire State Manufacturing Survey, which rose to 17.4 in March from 12.5 in February, ahead of market expectations and the best reading for the index in eight months. Meanwhile, shares in electric car maker Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) were down 0.3% at US$691.54 in early trading after a somewhat bizarre SEC filing proclaiming that Elon Musk had anointed himself as the company’s “Technoking”. 7:45am: Wall Street points higher The signing off last week on the US stimulus package by lawmakers has induced a sense of restrained optimism in US markets. Spread betting quotes indicate the Dow Jones Industrial Average will open 113 points higher at 32,892 while the broader-based S&P 500 is tipped to climb 9 points to 3,952. The Nasdaq 100, which unlike the other two indices lost ground on Friday, is expected to recover its mojo and advance 43 points to 12,980. “With the Nasdaq having suffered steep losses on Friday, futures point towards a positive start to the week for the recently hard-hit tech sector. The past week has shown how the rotation between value and growth is likely to be a volatile one, and while we are looking at a likely rebound in tech today, there is also a significant chance of another sharp move lower before long,” said Joshua Mahony, the senior market analyst at IG. The price of Bitcoin reached a record US$60,000 over the weekend but the cryptocurrency is down by just under 7% today as profit-takers move in, On the US macroeconomic front, the highlight is the Empire State manufacturing index, where analysts are expecting a reading of 14.5 for March, up from 12.1 in February. Four things to watch for on Monday: The earnings diary will start the week with numbers from healthcare savings firm Healthequity Inc (NASDAQ:HQY), hospitality software group PAR Technology Corp (NYSE:PAR) and wearable technology specialist Vuzix Corp (NASDAQ:VUZI) Shares in GenMark Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:GNMK) are likely to draw attention after the firm agreed to a US$1.8bn takeover deal with Swiss healthcare giant Roche Meanwhile, shares in Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) could find themselves back in the news following more antics from billionaire boss Elon Musk, who in an SEC filing has declared himself “TechnoKing” of the company as well as his existing title of CEO Bitcoin could also be getting a look in after the cryptocurrency reached a record high of around US$61,500 over the weekend before falling back slightly