S&P 500 Index opens modestly higher, closes in on 4,500

• Wall Street's main indexes opened in the positive territory on Friday.
• Energy stocks post strong gains on rising crude oil prices.
• Investors await FOMC Chairman Jerome Powell's remarks at the Jackson Hole Symposium.

Major equity indexes in the US started the last day of the week modestly higher as investors await FOMC Chairman Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium. As of writing, the S&P 500 Index was up 0.28% on a daily basis at 4,483, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was rising 0.27% at 35,300 and the Nasdaq Composite was gaining 0.15% at 15,300.

FOMC Chairman Jerome Powell speaks at Jackson Hole Symposium – live stream.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Energy Index is the biggest gainer after the opening bell, rising more than 2% on rising crude oil prices. Currently, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate is trading at $68.75, up 1.5% on the dya.

On the other hand, the defensive Healthcare and the Utilities indexes trade in the negative territory, reflecting an improving market sentiment.

S&P 500 chart (daily)