US stocks up at opening after strong jobs report

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US stocks were up at opening on Friday after strong jobs report for August.

The Dow Jones rose 242 points, or 0.77%, to 31,989 at 10.25 a.m. EDT. The S&P 500 added 37 points, or 0.95%, to 4,005.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 104 points, or 0.88%, to 11,889.

US economy added 315,000 jobs in August, above market estimate of 300,000, the Labor Department announced on Friday.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, plummeted 7.7% to 23.59. The 10-year US Treasury yield fell 1.9% to 3.204%.

While the dollar index lost 0.4% to 109.24, the euro was up 0.6% to $1.0006 against the dollar.

Precious metals reversed course, with gold adding 1% to $1,714 and silver rising 1.9% to $18.15.

Oil prices were on the rise. Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at $94.97 a barrel for a 1.8% gain, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was around $89 -- a 2.7% increase.