In the first trades, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 6.59 points (0.05 per cent) to 12,542.05.

The Nasdaq composite lost was unchanged at 2,326.75 and the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index edged up a fractional 0.80 points (0.06 per cent) to 1,350.68.

Markets were digesting strong back-to-back rallies on Wall Street rallies around a holiday weekend break that added over 400 points to the Dow blue-chip index as investors cheered the Federal Reserve's aggressive moves to pump in liquidity and ease interest rates to fight a housing and credit crunch.

'We think there is a very strong likelihood that we have seen the lows and would be gradually increasing our exposure' in stocks, said John Wilson, analyst at Morgan Keegan.

'We've said all along that the market would call the turn well ahead of the economists, and it is very possible that the behavior of the financials, housing and transportation stocks are doing just that.' -- AFP