US stock market closes higher with new records

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Major US stock market indices closed higher Monday to end the first trading day of November at new record high levels.

The blue-chip Dow Jones rose 94 points, or 0.26%, to end the day at 35,913 after it hit an all-time high of 36,009.74 points during the session.

The S&P 500 added 8 points, or 0.18%, to finish at 4,613 after reaching a record high of 4,620.34.

The Nasdaq jumped 97 points, or 0.63%, to close at 15,595. The tech-heavy index climbed to an all-time high of 15,598.95 during the day.

All three indices improved their record high levels seen on Friday.

The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes was up 0.43% to 1.563%, while the US dollar index fell 0.28% to 93.86.

The VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, rose 0.92% to 16.41.

The price of international benchmark Brent crude was trading at $84.55, up 1%, while the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 0.45% to $83.95.

Precious metals were on the rise, with gold adding 0.6% to $1,794 per ounce and silver rising 0.6% to $24.03.

Bitcoin was trading around $61,100, a 0.7% gain. The total value of the crypto market stood near a record high of $2.65 trillion, up 2.2%, according to data by digital asset price-tracking website CoinMarketCap.

The rise in the crypto market value came after a Biden administration report said that stablecoins could be more widely used in the future as a means of payment by households and businesses.

Stablecoins, digital coins whose price is stabilized to a traditional currency, "are well-designed and subject to appropriate oversight and have the potential to support beneficial payments options," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday in a statement.

Amid risks, however, regulation and congressional legislation are required to protect investors and markets, said the report by the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (PWG), joined by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).