US stocks open with gains to kick off Friday on higher note

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US stocks opened with gains on Friday to kick off the last trading day of the week on a higher note.

The Dow Jones jumped 147 points, or 0.44%, to open the day at 33,481 at 9.33 a.m. EDT (1333GMT). The S&P 500 rose 22 points, or 0.51%, to 4,227.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 70 points, or 0.55%, to 12,850.

Indices have been on the rise since Wednesday when consumer inflation showed softening, before producer inflation had easing in July, compared to June.

The slowdown in both producer and consumer prices could lead to the Federal Reserve beginning to slow the pace of interest rate increases in the coming months.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, fell 0.9% to 20.02. The 10-year US Treasury yield was also down 1.5% to 2.844%.

While the dollar index rose 0.5% to 105.59, the euro declined 0.45% to $1.0275 against the dollar.

Precious metals were on the rise, with gold adding 0.4% to $1,796 and silver increasing 1% to $20.50.

Oil prices were down around 2%. Global oil benchmark Brent crude was at $97.73 per barrel for a 1.9% loss, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $92.17 -- a 2.3% decrease.