US stocks headed solidly higher in opening trade Tuesday following gains in Europe's markets, which came on the back of a surge in German investor sentiment to a seven-month high.
Ten minutes into trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average had gained 62.16 points (0.47 percent) to 13,232.04.
The broad-market S&P 500 added 7.57 (0.53 percent) at 1,426.12, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite rose 24.62 points (0.82 percent) to 3,011.58.
Insurer AIG was up 2.7 percent to $34.25 after the US Treasury announced the successful sale of its final 234 million shares at an average of $32.50 a share.
The Nasdaq was boosted as volatile Apple gained 2.0 percent to $540.39.
