S&P 500 Index opens modestly higher supported by financial stocks

• Wall Street's main indexes started the last day of the week higher.
• Financial shares post strong gains on the back of rising T-bond yields.

Major equity indexes in the US started the last day of the week modestly higher as risk flows seem to be remaining in control of financial markets. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.27% on the day at 31,579, the S&P 500 Index was rising 0.3% at 3,925 and the Nasdaq Composite was gaining 0.32% at 13,681.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the rate-sensitive Financials Index is up 0.8% supported by a more-than-2% increase seen in the 10-year US Treasury bond yields.

On the other hand, the defensive Utilities Index is the worst performer after the opening bell, losing nearly 0.6%.

Later in the session, the IHS Markit's preliminary Manufacturing and Services PMI figures for February will be looked upon for fresh impetus.

S&P 500 chart (daily)