Wall Street opens higher led by strong gains in energy shares

• S&P 500 Energy Index gains nearly 4% on rising oil prices.
• Market sentiment improves on hopes of US economy reopening.
• CBOE Volatility Index drops more than 5% on Tuesday.

Major equity indexes in the United States opened decisively higher on Tuesday as heightened hopes of the economy reopening provided a boost to the market sentiment. Reflecting the upbeat mood, the CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, is down 5.4% on the day.

Energy shares lead the rally

As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were both up 1.2% on the day while the Nasdaq Composite was gaining 1.18%.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Energy Index is up 3.98% as the top-performer supported by an 8.3% increase in the West Texas Intermediate price. Moreover, the risk-sensitive Technology Index is rising 1.5% and the Financials Index, which seems to be capitalizing on the strong performance of Treasury bond yields, is gaining 1.55%.