US stocks open lower before key debt ceiling vote

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US stocks opened lower before a key debt ceiling vote in Congress later Wednesday.

The blue-chip Dow Jones fell 166 points, or 0.5%, to 32,876 at 9.42 a.m. EDT. The S&P 500 shed 14 points, or 0.34%, to 4,190.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq was down 10 points, or 0.1%, to 13,016.

President Joe Biden urged Congress on Sunday to pass a bipartisan deal he reached with House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy to raise the nation's debt ceiling.

Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in recent months have urged Congress to take swift action to raise the debt limit to avoid the US defaulting on its debt obligations.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, rose 1.6% to 17.74. The 10-year US Treasury yield, meanwhile, fell 1.4% to 3.647%.

The dollar index was up 0.2% to 104.36, while the euro decreased 0.3% to $1.0698 against the greenback.

Precious metals were in positive territory, with gold adding 0.7% to $1,972 per ounce and silver rising 1% to $23.43.

Oil prices lost around 1%, with global benchmark Brent crude at $73.05 per barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate at $68.58.