S&P 500 opens 2.7% higher on upbeat data, surges above 3,100

• Wall Street's main indexes post strong gains on Tuesday.
• Upbeat Retail Sales data from the US boost risk sentiment.
• CBOE Volatility Index drops nearly 5% in early trade.

Major equity indexes in the US opened sharply higher on Tuesday with the upbeat US data fueling the risk rally. As of writing, the S&P 500, which was up 2.7% at the opening bell, was gaining 2.55% on the day at 3,144 points. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite were up 2.77% and 2.07%, respectively.

Risk-on flows dominate financial markets on Tuesday

Mirroring the upbeat market mood, the CBOE Volatility Index is down nearly 5% on the day at 32.8 points.

Earlier in the day, the data published by the US Census Bureau revealed that Retail Sales in May increased at a record monthly pace of 17.7%. Additionally, Industrial Production expanded by 1.4% after contracting by 12.5% in April.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Industrial Index is up 4% as the top performer and the Consumer Discretionary and the Consumer Staples indexes are both gaining around 2%.