S&P 500 Index opens modestly higher after Monday's decline

• Wall Street's main indexes trade in the positive territory on Tuesday.
• Defensive sectors post strong gains after the opening bell.

After suffering heavy losses on Monday, major equity indexes managed to open modestly higher on Tuesday. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4% on the day at 34,110, the S&P 500 was rising 0.3% at 4,270 and the Nasdaq Composite was posting small gains at 14,560.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the defensive Healthcare and the Utilities indexes rise 0.8% and 1%, respectively as the best performers after the opening bell. On the other hand, the Energy Index is losing 0.2% as crude oil prices struggle to stage a recovery. 

Earlier in the day, the data from the US showed that Housing Starts increased by 6.3% in June after rising by 2.1% in May.