S&P 500 opens modestly higher, tests 4,500

• Wall Street’s main indexes continue to edge higher.
• Healthcare shares post strong gains after the opening bell.

Major equity indexes in the US opened in the positive territory on Tuesday as the market mood remains upbeat ahead of key quarterly earnings figures. As of writing, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% on the day at 4,500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was rising 0.2% at 35,310 and the Nasdaq Composite was gaining 0.4% at 15,079.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Healthcare Index is up 0.8% as the top gainer after the opening bell. On the other hand, the Consumer Staples Index is losing 0.4%.

Earlier in the day, the data from the US showed that Building Permits and Housing Starts decreased by 7.7% and 1.6%, respectively, in September but these prints don’t seem to be having a noticeable impact on risk sentiment.

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S&P 500 chart (daily)