US stocks open higher amid efforts to prevent another losing week

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Major indices in the US stock market opened higher on Friday amid efforts to prevent another losing week.

The Dow Jones rose 211 points, or 0.68%, to 31,464 points as of 9.33 a.m. EDT (1333GMT). The S&P 500 added 37 points, or 0.97%, to start the day at 3,938.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 137 points, or 1.2%, to start the last trading day of the week at 11,525.

Ride-hailing company Uber and communications firm Zoom Video saw their shares climbing more than 2% apiece at the opening bell.

With the positive sentiments, the VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, fell 2.1% to 28.74.

The dollar index, on the other hand, was up 0.23% to 102.96 and the 10-year US Treasury yield rose 0.13% to 2.859%.

Precious metals were down with the price of gold falling 0.03% to $1,841 and silver losing 0.33% to $21.86.

Crude oil prices were up almost 1%. Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at $112.96 for a 0.82% daily gain, while the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $110.80 -- a 0.84% increase.