S&P 500 Index extends rebound on Thursday, opens in positive territory above 3,400

• Wall Street's main indexes opened higher on Thursday.
• Financial and tech shares post strong gains to lead the rally.
• Defensive sectors trade in the negative territory amid upbeat market mood.

After registering impressive gains on Wednesday, major equity indexes in the US started the day in the positive territory on Thursday. As of writing, the S&P 500 Index was up 0.65% on the day at 3,420, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was gaining 0.7% at 28,135 and the Nasdaq Composite was rising 0.85% at 11,237.

Reflecting the risk-on market environment, the CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauges, is down nearly 4% on a daily basis.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Technology Index and the Financials Index both gain around 1% to lead the rally. On the other hand, defensive sectors, Utilities and Real Estates, both trade in the negative territory. 

Earlier in the day, the data published by the US Department of Labor showed that weekly Initial Jobless Claims stayed unchanged at 884,000 last week but was largely ignored by the market participants.

S&P 500 chart (daily)