Wall Street extends rally, DJIA hits new all-time highs

• Energy shares lead rally on rising crude oil prices.
• CBOE Volatility Index edges lower on strong risk appetite.

Wall Street's main indexes started the day decisively higher on Wednesday amid strong demand for risk-sensitive assets on the back of the improved market sentiment.

As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading at fresh all-time highs at 29,484 points, adding 0.7% on the day. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were adding 0.55% and 0.75%, respectively.

Earlier today, several Chinese news outlets reported that the recovery rate of coronavirus patients have started to increase. Moreover, the number of new infection cases seem to be rising at a softer pace to further boost the sentiment. Reflecting the upbeat mood, the CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, is down 4.15% on the day.

Energy sector gains traction

Among the 11-major S&P 500 sectors, the Energy Index, which seems to be capitalizing on the 3% increase in crude oil prices, is up 1.5% to lead the winners. On the other hand, the defensive Real Estate and the Utilities indexes are posting modest daily losses.