US stock market closes higher with gains in tech stocks

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The US stock market closed higher Wednesday for the fourth consecutive day with gains in technology companies' stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 224 points, or 0.63%, to close at 35,629.

The S&P 500 rose 42 points, or 0.94%, to 4,589. The Nasdaq added 71 points, or 0.5%, to finish at 14,417.

Google's parent company, Alphabet, saw its shares jump 7.5%. Microsoft, IBM and Intel shares added more than 1% apiece.

The VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, was down 5.4% to 20.77 but managed to stay above the critical level of 20.

The dollar index lost 0.4% to 95.98 and the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes fell 1.3% to 1.777%.

Precious metals gained with gold adding 0.33% to $1,807 per ounce and silver rising 0.1% to $22.66.

Crude oil prices rose around 0.3% with Brent crude trading at $89.59 per barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate at $88.33.