File photo: CGTN

Wall Street stocks opened higher Tuesday as moves by US states and leading companies to resume economic activity offset gloomy near-term conditions in the wake of coronavirus shutdowns.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 24,093.91, up 1.5 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 also gained 1.5 percent to 2,883.87, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.6 percent to 8,845.65.

The gains followed an upbeat finale to Monday's session, when US stocks shrugged off early weakness and greeted steps by Florida to reopen its economy and statements that California and New York are heading in that direction.

Wall Street's resilience has sparked a debate among investors on whether the market is underestimating the depth and potential length of the US recession due to the COVID-19 shutdowns. 

This Friday's jobs report is expected to show unemployment spiking to 16.2 percent from 4.4 percent, according to analyst forecasts.

"Over the next several months, the pace of America's economic restart may drive equity market volatility," said a note from Nicholas Colas of DataTrek Research, who said he is in the "bullish" camp on the broad US market.

"Equities, and especially large cap US stocks, will benefit more from the good days to come than be hurt by the not-so-good ones," Colas said.