US markets open higher to recover, Europe indices positive

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The US stock market recovered Tuesday from losses during the previous session to open higher, while European indices stayed positive.

The Dow Jones rose 31 points, or 0.1%, to 35,133 at 9.50 a.m. EDT, while the S&P 500 added 5, or 0.12%, to 4,437 points. Both indices closed previously in negative territory.

The Nasdaq increased 24 points, or 0.17%, to 14,884 with pharmaceutical firm Novavax continuing to rally by rising 9.7% and theater chain AMC Entertainment adding 6.2%.

The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes added 0.5% to 1.324, and the dollar index inched up 0.2% to $93.12.

The VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, shed 1.4% to 16.48.

Precious metals continued to decrease, losing 0.4% with gold falling to $1,723 per ounce and silver sliding to $23.36.

Oil prices bounced back from losses in recent weeks. Brent crude was up 1.9% to $70.37 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate stood at $68.14, a 2.5% gain.

Despite the strong opening, however, investors are cautious about when the Federal Reserve will start to end its $120 billion monthly asset purchase program.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said Monday he is focusing on the fourth quarter for the central bank to start ending the program, while Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said the announcement could come as early as September.

US Senate will vote later on $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which will head to the House of Representatives if approved. Passage of the bill could lead to an increase in the markets.

Major European indices were in positive territory with three indices reaching all-time highs.

STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 countries, was at 472.52 points at 1400 GMT after earlier reaching a new high of 472.83.

France's CAC 40 hit a record of 6,832.95 with a 0.3% increase before showing a retreat. Italy's Borsa Italiana FTSE MIB 30 also hit a fresh all-time high of 26,260.81 points, and it was trading at 26,253 at that time.

London's FTSE 100 and Germany DAX 30 were up 0.14% and 0.31%, respectively, at 7,142 and 15,795 points, respectively. IBEX 35 increased 0.14% to 8,878.

Major stock markets in Asia closed with gains for the second consecutive day.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, rose 15 points, or 0.39%, to close at 3,892.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange added 68, or 0.24%, to 27,888 points.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, climbed 322 points, or 1.23%, to 26,605. China's Shanghai stock exchange was up 3, or 1.01%, to 3,529 points.