Wall Street opens modestly higher, rising T-bond yields lift financial shares

• Defensive sectors continue to underperform amid upbeat mood.
• Financial shares gain traction on the back of rising T-bond yields. 

After reaching fresh record highs on Monday, Wall Street's main indexes started the third straight trading day in the positive territory on Tuesday as hopes of the United States and China soon completing the phase one of the trade deal and avoiding further escalation of the trade conflict continue to keep the sentiment positive.

As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.12% on the day at 30.59, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were both adding 0.05%.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Financials Index is rising 0.6% in the early trade to lead the winners supported by a more-than-3.5% increase in the 10-year US Treasury bond yield. On the other hand, the rate-sensitive Real Estate Index is down 1.33% while the defensive Utilities and Consumer Staples are posting modest losses.