US stocks open higher, head toward quarterly gains

Most of the major US stock indices rose on Tuesday, to head for large gains in the second quarter, which ends today.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell renewed his warnings about the uncertainty over the US economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Powell added that prospects for the US economic recovery from the coronavirus impact depend on the efforts to contain the deadly disease.

The Fed will release the minutes of its last meeting tomorrow, which will show the FOMC members' expectations about monetary policy and the US economy performance.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus death toll continued to surge around the world, and infections surpassed 10 million cases yesterday.

As for stocks, Dow Jones fell 0.1% or 21 points to 25,574 as of 14:30 GMT, while Nasdaq rose 0.7% or 70 points to 9,940, and S&P 500 rose 0.4% or 11 to 3,064.