By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com — The Dow eked out a gain Monday, led by consumer stocks on optimism about easing Covid-19 restrictions in China, though wavering in tech stocks kept a lid on gains in the broader market. 

The index was up 16 points.

The tech sector fluctuated between losses and gains in volatile trade, as investors considered signs of an easing in China’s regulatory crackdown against continuing expectations that the Federal Reserve would tighten monetary policy.

Alphabet (NASDAQ) and Amazon (NASDAQ), which were leading the charge, both up almost 2% each after Monday’s 20-for-1 split. This move will likely make the stock attractive for retail investors.

Apple (NASDAQ:), meanwhile, was up less than 1% after the tech giant announced a new iPhone software update and its latest chip, the M2.

Ahead of the event, investors were eagerly anticipating clues on the company’s AR/VR [augmented reality/virtual reality] technology, which “will be a key broadening out of the Apple ecosystem as the company aggressively goes after the metaverse opportunity with Apple Glass,” Wedbush said in a recent note.

Twitter (NYSE 🙂 meanwhile suffered losses after it confirmed that it was going to implement the $44 Billion take-private agreement with Elon Musk.

Musk made a threat to renege on the deal in a regulatory filing. Musk claimed that Facebook had materially broken the agreement by failing to disclose information about fake accounts or users.

China stocks were also in rally mode, led by DiDi Global (NYSE:), up almost 25% as reports that Chinese regulators are reportedly ending their probe into the ride-hailing company fueled optimism that Beijing’s crackdown on tech is nearing an end.

The top performing sector was consumer stocks, while casino stocks performed the bulk of the work as investors digested the news of a loosening in Covid-19 lockdowns in China.

Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ) and Penn National (NASDAQ) closed the day with a gain of around 3% each, while Wynn Resorts gained over 2%.

As investors weighed the recent commitment by OPEC (and its allies) to boost output, energy stocks reacted well to a fall in oil prices.

In deal news, Spirit Airlines Inc surged by 7% following the sweetening of JetBlue Airways Corp’s takeover offer. Jetblue has increased the break-up fee, the amount that Spirit will be charged if the deal falls through to regulators, to $350,000,000. That’s $3.20 for each Spirit share.