S&P 500 opens higher, reclaims 4,500 after three-day decline

• Wall Street's main indexes opened in the positive territory on Friday.
• Defensive sectors edge lower after the opening bell.
• Energy stocks post strong gains on the back of rising crude oil prices.

After closing the previous three days in the negative territory, major equity indexes in the US opened higher on Friday amid the positive shift seen in market sentiment. As of writing, the S&P 500 Index was up 0.43% on the day at 4,512, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was rising 0.35% at 34,998 and the Nasdaq Composite was gaining 0.57% at 15,336.

Reflecting the risk-positive environment, the S&P 500's defensive sector, Utilities, Real Estate and Healthcare indexes, push lower after the opening bell.

On the other hand, the Energy Index is up more than 1% supported by the 2.7% increase seen in the US crude oil prices. 

S&P 500 chart (daily)