US stocks open mixed with weak economic data

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US stocks opened mixed Wednesday with weak macroeconomic data as the private sector added less jobs than estimates in February.

The Dow Jones rose 50 points, or 0.2%, to 31,441 at 9.35 a.m. EDT (1435GMT), while the S&P 500 was flat at 3,867. The Nasdaq was off 26, or 0.2%, to 13,332.

Pharmaceutical firms Moderna and Novavax carried their losses to a second consecutive day as their shares were down more than 3% each.

Tech companies GameStop and Uber were up over 2%, while investment banking majors JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs increased over 1%.

US private payrolls increased 117,000 in February, well below the market estimate, according to ADP Research Institute’s national employment report released on Wednesday.

While analysts expected an increase of 177,000, the figure in January was revised up from 174,000 to 195,000.

The 10-year US Treasury yield, which increased in recent weeks but fell on Monday and Tuesday, rebounded by 3.8% to 1.469%. The yield on Thursday hit its highest level since February 2020.

VIX volatility index was also up 2.5% to 24.72 minutes after Wednesday's opening.

While Bitcoin was up 4% for the day just below $51,000 mark, other cryptocurrencies have also shown signs of recovery from last week's major losses.