S&P 500 opens at fresh monthly highs above 3,200

• Wall Street opened in the positive territory on Monday.
• S&P 500 climbs above 3,200 for the first time since early June.
• Three major S&P 500 sectors gain more than 1%. 

Major equity indexes in the US opened sharply higher on Monday as vaccine hopes seem to be allowing investors to look past surging coronavirus cases in the US. As of writing, the S&P 500 (SPX) was up 0.8% on the day at 3,210, highest level since June 10th, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was gaining 0.8% at 26,285 and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) was up 1.43% at 10,770.

Eyes on Q2 earnings figures

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Monday that it has granted "Fast Track" designation to Pfizer and BioNTech for two of their coronavirus vaccine candidates. At the moment, Pfizer (PFE) shares are up nearly 3% on a daily basis.

The S&P 500's Technology Index, Consumer Discretionary Index and Healthcare Index are rising more than 1% as the top-performing major sectors. On the other hand, the defensive Utilities Index and the Real Estates Index are trading in the negative territory. 

Meanwhile, investors will be paying close attention to second-quarter earnings figures this week. Earlier in the day, PepsiCo Inc reported a slightly better-than-expected quarterly net revenue of $15.95 billion.