US market opens with records as Biden taps Powell for Fed

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Major indices in the US stock market opened higher on Monday as the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is nominated to continue leading the central bank for a second term.

The blue-chip Dow was up 119 points, or 0.33%, at 35,720 at 9.43 a.m. EDT, while the S&P 500 added 28 points, or 0.6%, to a record high of 4,725.78.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 93 points, or 0.6%, to a new all-time high of 16,150.64.

President Joe Biden earlier nominated the Fed Chair Jerome Powell to lead the central bank for the second term. Leading the Fed since February 2018, Powell is known for his dovish stance, which investors believe would benefit the markets in the post-pandemic period.

The VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, was down 1.3% to 17.68 at the time.

The dollar index, on the other hand, gained 0.44% to 96.46, while the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes rose 3.5% to 1.589%.

Price of Brent crude was up 0.3% at $79.12 a barrel and the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.14% to $76.05.

Precious metals were down with gold losing 1.3% to $1,822 an ounce and silver falling 0.4% to $24.53.