US open: Stocks record early gains as oil rally continues
US stocks opened higher on Tuesday as market participants again bet on the nation's economy opening up and cheered a further recovery in oil prices.
As of 1540 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.44% at 24,090.80, while the S&P 500 was 1.51% firmer at 2,885.58 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 1.65% stronger at 8,854.63.
The Dow opened 341.04 points higher on Monday, continuing on a rally started at the tail end of the previous session when tech stocks led a late turnaround and an improvement in oil prices to comfortably above $20 per barrel also helped boost sentiment.
Investors were mindful of the potential for a second wave of Covid-19 cases on Tuesday as the state of California revealed on Monday that sever retailers would be allowed to offer a roadside collection of goods by the end of the week.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo also said daily rates of hospitalisations and deaths were declining, indicating the Empire State was on "the other side of the mountain". However, Cuomo noted that the drop was not as steep as officials had hoped.
Also underlining sentiment, oil prices were up as much as 17% at the bell as investors bet that the US economy had bottomed-out - with shares in likely beneficiaries of the news such as Ford accelerating gains in early trading.
CMC Markets analyst David Madden said: "Stock markets are higher this morning as traders are optimistic that governments will move towards easing their lockdown restrictions. The prospect of looser restrictions should pave the way for the reopening of economies, and that is driving sentiment.
"Oil is enjoying a bullish move as the possibility of economic activity ticking up has encouraged dealers to snap-up the energy. One of the reasons behind the painful fall in the oil market recently was because of storage concerns, but some of those fears have been alleviated due to the prospect of increased economic activity, once the lockdown restrictions are eased."
In macro news, the US trade balance for April came in at -$44.4bn, just ahead of estimates of -$44.2bn. March's figures were revised to $39.8bn.
Elsewhere, the US non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 41.8 in April, down from 52.5 in March but ahead of expectations of a 37.5 print, according to the Institute of Supply Management.
Federal Reserve heads Raphael Bostic, James Bullard and Charles Evans will make speeches throughout the course of the day.
On the corporate front, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, AMC Networks, Beyond Meat, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Sprint, Walt Disney and Expedia will all report earnings on Tuesday.