Wall Street edged higher on Tuesday morning, helped by a rise in technology stocks and a rebound in Deutsche Bank.
The S&P 500 technology index rose 0.43 per cent, boosted by a 1.2 per cent rise in Apple and a 0.6 per cent rise in Google parent Alphabet.
The benchmark S&P 500 index has been swinging between gains and losses in the past few days as investors await the upcoming corporate earnings season and the outcome of a tight race for the White House.
Deutsche Bank shares rose 2.2 per cent after major clients and rivals extended support to the bank, which is negotiating with US authorities over a multi-billion dollar penalty.
The German lender's US-listed stock was also up 2.2 per cent.
At 9:44 am ET (1344 GMT) Dow Jones industrial average was up 38.89 points, or 0.21 per cent, at 18,292.74.
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The S&P 500 was up 2.77 points, or 0.13 per cent, at 2,163.97. Five of the 11 major S&P 500 indexes were higher.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 17.90 points, or 0.34 per cent, at 5,318.77. Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker said he would have dissented at the last rate-setting meeting if he had been able to vote, arguing that interest rates need to rise.
His Cleveland counterpart, Loretta Mester, who unlike Lacker is a voting member of the Fed, said on Monday that the central bank should not delay raising rates.
The September jobs report on Friday will give a glimpse into the health of the US labor market and play a big role in the Fed's decision on interest rates.
Traders have priced in a mere 10 per cent chance of a hike at the Fed's November meeting, which comes days before the Nov 8 US presidential election. The odds of a December hike stand at 62 percent, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
Darden shares rose 4.6 percent to $64.15 in premarket trading after the restaurant chain operator reported a rise in first-quarter sales.
Netflix rose 1.1 per cent to $103.81 amid speculation that the company could be a takeover target.
Sarepta Therapeutics rose 0.7 per cent after entering an agreement with Summit Therapeutics to develop drugs to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Summit's US-listed stock more than doubled.
Pandora rose 4.6 per cent after Goldman Sachs added the stock to its "conviction list" and raised its price target.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,467 to 1,176. On the Nasdaq, 1,438 issues rose and 847 fell.
The S&P 500 index showed 11 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 37 new highs and nine new lows.