S&P 500 Index opens decisively higher, approaches 4,500

• Wall Street's main indexes started the new week on a firm footing.
• All major sectors of the S&P 500 trades in the positive territory.
• Energy shares are surging higher on the back of rising crude oil prices.

After suffering heavy losses last week, major equity indexes in the US opened decisively higher on Monday.  As of writing, the S&P 500 Index was up 0.65% on the day at 4,487, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was rising 0.6% at 34,816 and the Nasdaq Composite was gaining 0.5% at 15,191.

All major sectors of the S&P 500 trade in the positive territory after the opening bell with the Energy Index leading the rally with a gain of 2.22%. A 1.5% increase witnessed in US crude oil prices seem to be providing a boost to energy stocks at the start of the week.

Meanwhile, the US House Ways and Means Committee said on Monday that they are looking to raise the US corporate tax rate to 26.5% from 21%. The debate on the legislation is expected to take place later in the week. Nevertheless, this headline doesn't seem to be weighing on market sentiment.

S&P 500 chart (daily)