US stock market opens lower Thursday

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Major indices in the US stock market opened lower on Thursday, extending their losses.

The Dow Jones was down 224 points, or 0.71%, to 31,356 at 9.37 am EDT. The S&P 500 fell 30 points, or 0.75%, to 3,948.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq decreased 110 points, or 0.93%, to 11,682.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, jumped 3.9% to 25.61. The 10-year US Treasury yield rose 0.2% to 3.271%.

While the dollar index increased 0.1% to 110.01, the euro was down 0.25% to $0.9974 against the dollar.

Precious metals were mixed, with gold declining 0.3% to $1,713 and silver rising 0.3% to $18.51.

Oil prices rose more than 1%. Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at $88.93 a barrel for a 1% gain, and the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was around $83.17 – a 1.5% increase.