S&P 500 opens modestly higher, stays above 3,000

• Wall Street's main indexes are posting modest gains on Monday.
• Defensive S&P 500 sectors are leading the rally.

Major equity indexes in the US started the new week on a mixed tone after suffering heavy losses last week. The S&P 500, which lost nearly 3% last week, is now up 0.4% on the day at 3,020 points. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is gaining 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite is down 0.25% at 9,732 points.

Tech shares underperform on Monday

Among the 11-major S&P 500 sectors, the so-called defensive sector, Real Estate and Utilities, are both up around 0.6%. On the other hand, the Technology Index and the Communication Services Index both trade in the negative territory, weighing on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite.

Later in the day, Pending Home Sales and Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index will be featured in the US economic docket. More importantly, investors will pay close attention to coronavirus figures, especially the ones from Florida, Texas and California.