US stocks open higher, trying to climb out of bear market territory

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US stocks opened higher Thursday, trying to climb out of bear market territory after the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hike fueled recession fears.

The Dow was up 194 points, or 0.64%, to 30,680 points at 9.44 a.m. EDT (1344GMT). The S&P 500 rose 18, or 0.5%, to 3,778.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq addes 23 points, or 0.2%, to 11,074.

The Fed raised its interest rate by 75 basis points last Wednesday and that fueled worries that the aggressive monetary tightening could push the US economy into a recession.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, was up 0.9% to 29.21.

The dollar index rose 0.2% to 104.41 but the 10-year US Treasury yield fell 2.6% to 3.074%.

Precious metals were mixed, with gold rising 0.14% to $1,840 and silver losing 0.1% to $21.37.

Crude prices were on the decline. Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at $111.50 for a 0.2% loss, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $105.70 -- off 0.4%.