US stocks open lower with inflation worries

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US stocks opened lower Tuesday with worries about rising inflation.

The Dow Jones was down 96 points to 34,297 at 9.49 a.m. EDT (1349GMT) with JPMorgan falling 1.4%.

The S&P 500 fell 4 to 4,251 as Tesla declined 0.9%. The Nasdaq fell 9 to 14,165. Both indexes closed Monday at all-time highs.

The VIX volatility index was up for the second consecutive day, adding 2.7% to 16.84.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note was up 0.1% to 1,502%, and the dollar index rose slightly to 90.56 as rising inflation continues to create worries.

US producer prices soared 6.6% in May, from the same month a year ago -- its largest gain since November 2010, the Labor Department announced earlier. Last week it said consumer prices jumped 5% in May on an annual basis -- the largest increase since August 2008.

The data are closely watched as significant inflation indicators by the Federal Reserve, which may signal at the end of a meeting on Wednesday a rate hike before 2023 to tame rising prices.

Oil prices hit their highest levels in a year with Brent crude trading at $73.79 with a 1.3% gain in early trading and US West Texas Intermediate at $71.91 -- a 1.4% gain.

Gold was slightly down to $1,865 per ounce, and silver decreased 0.7% to $27.65.

After a strong rally on Monday, Bitcoin was mostly flat around $40,300.