Wall Street opens higher, Dow eyes 20,000

US stocks kicked off the new year with big gains on Tuesday, with all eyes on the Dow Jones Industrial Average as it zeroes in on the historic 20,000 mark.

The Dow was up 152.92 points, or 0.77 percent, at 19,915.52, the S&P 500 was up 16.98 points, or 0.758432 percent, at 2,255.81 and the Nasdaq composite was up 41.68 points, or 0.77 percent, at 5,424.80.