US open: Stocks record early gains following China data, extended measures

As of 1545 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.48% at 22,434.87, while the S&P 500 was 0.42% firmer at 2,637.63 and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.30% stronger at 7,874.83.

Volatility on the other hand was down a notch at the end of the quarter, with the VIX volatility index retreating 9.53% to 51.70.

The Dow opened 107.39 points higher on Tuesday after closing out the previous session in the green as Johnson & Johnson identified a lead candidate for coronavirus treatment and the White House extended measures to contain the spread of the outbreak.

Sentiment was still getting a boost on Tuesday from the announcement of a more realistic government approach to contain the pandemic after Donald Trump extended the timeline for social distancing guidelines until 30 April over the weekend - which many believe will help limit the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic in the long run.

News that China's official manufacturing purchasing managers index for manufacturing rose to 52.0 in March, up from a record low of 35.7 seen in February, also helped paint market participants a picture of how long it may take the US economy to recover from the outbreak.

China's official non-manufacturing purchasing managers index also climbed in March - up to 52.3 from a record-low reading of 29.6 in February.

Confirmed Covid-19 cases in the US have risen to more than 153,200, according to Johns Hopkins University, while global cases have topped 800,000. However, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Tuesday that he was starting to see "glimmers" that social distancing was helping to lessen the spread of the coronavirus in the US.

On the macro front, house price inflation in the US picked up by less than expected at the start of 2020, the results of a closely watched set of surveys revealed. The year-on-year rate of increase in Standard&Poor's CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index accelerated from a 3.7% clip in December to 3.9% for January.

Elsewhere, a measure of business conditions in the Chicago region slipped to 47.8 in March, down from a reading of 49.0 recorded a month earlier, according to the Institute of Supply Management.

Lastly, a popular gauge of consumer confidence in the US revealed what the survey compiler termed a "worrisome" worsening in Americans' short-term outlook which pointed to a "severe contraction".

The Conference Board's consumer confidence fell from a reading of 132.6 for February to 120.0 in March. That was better than the fall to 114.0 that economists had anticipated, as consumers' view on the present situation help up better than had been expected.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Tuesday.