Wall Street turns mixed after opening higher

• Major equity indexes in US trade mixed following Monday's slump.
• Energy shares continue to underperform amid falling crude oil prices. 

After suffering heavy losses on Monday, Wall Street's main indexes started the day decisively higher on Tuesday but struggled to stage a persistent rebound. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.55% on the day, the Nasdaq Composite was flat near 7,000 points and the S&P 500 was up 1.26%. 

Defensive shares find demand

Investors seem to be assessing the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the economy and global central banks' measures to battle the situation. Concerns over funding shortage drove the US Dollar Index to its highest level in more than three weeks on Tuesday.

According to Reuters, the Federal Reserve is planning to relaunch the Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF) that was used during the 2007-2009 financial crisis to inject liquidity into the markets. 

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Energy Index is down 2% on the day. On the other hand, defensive sectors, Utilities, Real Estate and Consumer Staples, are adding more than 2%.