Wall Street opens higher after Europe rebound

New York - Wall Street shares opened higher on Tuesday, aiming to track a strong rebound in European markets after the dismal start of the new year.

A calming of China's markets, including that for the yuan currency, encouraged buyers across the two continents, as tech stocks like Twitter and Alibaba lead the gains.

Thirty minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 154.84 points, or 0.94%, at 16 553.41.

The broad-market S&P 500 index advanced 19.10 (0.99%) to 1 942.77, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite surged 66.61 (1.44%) to 4 704.60.

Alibaba added 3.6% and Twitter 3.4%; both were among the main tech stocks most hit in the heavy selloff during the first week of the year.

UnitedHealth Group added 3%, and Well Fargo Bank 2.2%.

Oil companies benefited from the recovery of crude prices after early losses; ExxonMobil added 1.5% and Chevron 1.7%. Among oil service companies, Schlumberger gained 1.3% and Halliburton 1.1%.

In the blue chips of the Dow, IBM topped the short loser column with a 0.7% drop, amid continuing doubts over its turnaround strategy.