US stocks open higher on strong company earnings

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US stocks opened higher Wednesday as strong quarterly earnings from American companies continue to give confidence to investors.

The Dow Jones was up 277 points, or 0.79%, to 35,190 at 9.33 a.m. EDT. The S&P 500 added 22 points, or 0.5%, to 4,482.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 23 points, or 0.17%, to 13,643.

US-based multinational consumer goods corporation Procter & Gamble posted net earnings of approximately $3.37 billion during the January-March period, up 3.7% from almost $3.25 billion in the same period last year.

Its net sales totaled almost $19.4 billion -- a gain of 7.2% from $18.1 billion.

Procter & Gamble's stock was up 1.47% to $161.75 at 9.33 a.m. on the New York Stock Exchange.

The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes fell 0.86% to 2.890%. The dollar index lost 0.52% to 100.43.

The VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, plummeted 5.6% to 20.17.

Precious metals were down with gold losing 0.21% to $1,946 and silver shedding 0.54% to $25.04.

Crude oil prices were up slightly.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at $108.05, up 0.75%, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $102.86 -- a 0.8% gain.