Dow Jones declines for 6th consecutive day

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The Dow Jones closed lower on Thursday, declining for the sixth consecutive trading day, as the selloff in US stock exchanges continues.

The blue-chip index lost 103, or 0.33%, to finish at 31,730 points. It lost 6.8% since last Wednesday when the Federal Reserve made a rate hike of 50 basis points.

The S&P 500 fell 5 points, or 0.13%, to end the day at 3,930 -- a new lowest level for this year.

The Nasdaq, on the other hand, rose 6 points, or 0.06%, to close at 11,371.

Although the VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, fell 2% to 31.91, the dollar index rose 0.94% to 104.82.

The 10-year US Treasury yield declined 1.4% to 2.871%.

Precious metals reversed course from gains in recent days. Gold declined 1.6% to $1,822 and silver lost 4.1% to $20.68.

Crude oil prices gained slightly. Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at $108.06 for a 0.5% daily gain, while the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $106.75 – a 1% increase.

Price of Bitcoin dipped to $26,700 earlier Thursday and it was trading around $28,500 at 4.10 p.m. EDT for a daily loss of 2.5%. Total value of crypto market lost 4.3% to $1.22 trillion for the day.