S&P 500 Index opens modestly lower following Monday's record-setting rally

• Wall Street's main indexes started the day in the negative territory.
• Energy stocks register strong gains amid rising crude oil prices.
• Defensive sectors underperform after the opening bell on Tuesday.

After posting impressive gains and notching a new record high on Monday, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) opened lower on Tuesday as investors seem to be taking this opportunity to take some of their profits off the table. Currently, the SPX is down 0.15% on the day at 4,071, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is losing 0.22% at 33,457 and the Nasdaq Composite is falling 0.19% at 13,572.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Energy Index is up 1.23% as the top performer in the early trade supported by a more-than-2% increase in US crude oil prices.

On the other hand, the defensive Utilities and Real Estate İndexes are down 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively, after the opening bell.

Earlier in the day, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that it raised its outlook for global economic growth to 6% this year from 5.5% in January's forecasts led by a strong rebound in the US economy. 

S&P 500 chart (daily)