NEW YORK, Jan 2 ― Wall Street stocks opened the 2020 trading campaign on strong footing, maintaining the positive holiday-season momentum on benign trade news and monetary policy.

Major indices closed out 2019 with double-digit gains for the year after the US and China moved closer to finalising a trade deal and the Federal Reserve cut interest rates three times and did about-face from a tightening posture in the prior year.

In the latest move at easing by a major central bank, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) announced new accommodative moves, saying it would lower the amount of cash lenders must keep in reserve.

Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare called the PBOC action "another bottle of champagne to enjoy” after New Year's Day celebrations and one that continued the market's "bullish bias.”

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 28,718.49, up 0.6 per cent.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.6 per cent to 3,248.80, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.9 per cent to 8,824.37.

Although leading auto manufacturers are expected to report December sales tomorrow, the economic calendar the rest of the holiday-shortened week is otherwise fairly quiet.

More traders are expected to be back by next week when there is a heavier schedule of reports, including the December jobs report. ― AFP