S&P 500 Index opens modestly higher, closes in on 3,300

• Wall Street's main indexes are posting modest gains on Tuesday.
• S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Index gains more than 1%.
• Investors wait for FOMC Chairman Powell's and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin's testimony.

Following Monday's sharp declines, major equity indexes in the US opened modestly higher on Tuesday. As of writing, the S&P 500 Index was up 0.45% on the day at 3,296, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was gaining 0.15% at 27,194 and the Nasdaq Composite was rising 0.6% at 10,844.

All major sectors of the S&P 500, with the exception of the Healthcare Index, trade in the positive territory. The Consumer Discretionary Index is up 1.25% as the best performer in the early trade. Moreover, supported by a 1.5% rebound witnessed in crude oil prices, the Energy Index is gaining 1%.

Later in the session, investors will be paying close attention to FOMC Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. 

S&P 500 chart (daily)