US stock market opens higher

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Major indices in the US stock market opened higher Thursday.

The Dow Jones was up 286 points, or 0.81%, to 35,450 at 9.45 a.m. EDT. The S&P 500 added 47 points, or 1.06%, to 4,506.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 215 points, or 1.6%, to 13,668.

The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes rose 1.7% to 2.884%.

The VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, was down 1.8% to 19.96. The dollar index lost 0.2% to 100.18.

Precious metals were down with gold losing 0.6% to $1,945 and silver shedding 1.7% to $24.77.

Crude oil prices were up more than 1%.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at $108.39, up 1.5%, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $103.88 -- a 1.6% gain.