US stock market turns negative after strong opening

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Major indexes in the US stock market opened higher on Tuesday but fell to negative in less than half an hour, after consumer inflation in August showed slowing down from the month before.

The blue-chip Dow rose 70 points, or 0.2%, to 34,940 at 9.44 a.m. EDT. The S&P 500 increased 9 points, or 0.22%, to 4,478.

Both indexes, however, fell to negative territory shortly after in a highly volatile session. The Dow was down 100 points, or 0.3%, to 34,767 at 10.04 a.m. EDT, while the S&P shed over 9 points, or 0.2%, to 4,459.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 45 points, or 0.3%, to 15,151 at opening, but it was later flat at 15,104.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, was down for the second straight day with a 0.6% loss to 19.25 after market opening but it jumped to 19.51 for a 0.7% gain.

Brent crude added 0.67% to $74 per barrel shortly after US market opening, and West Texas Intermediate rose 0.7% to $70.94.

After a steep decline below $43,000 range last Tuesday and going through high volatility since then, the world's largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin was almost at $46,600 with a 0.8% gain.

The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes plummeted 1.65% to 1.302%, while the dollar index fell 0.2% to 92.47.

Precious metals were mixed again with gold remaining flat at $1,793 per ounce, but silver losing 0.3% to $23.66.

US consumer prices rose 5.3% in August on an annual basis, after rising 5.4% in June and July. In August, the CPI rose 0.3% from the previous month, while it was up 0.5% in July from the month before.

Lower inflation figures encouraged investors that high cost of goods and services in the US are calming down to stabilize after months of record levels.