US stocks open lower despite House passing debt ceiling bill

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US stocks opened lower Thursday despite the House of Representatives passing a critical bill to prevent default before the June 5 deadline.

The blue-chip Dow Jones was down 143 points, or 0.44%, to 32,760 at 9.36 a.m. EDT.

The S&P 500 also shed four points, or 0.1%, to 4,175.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq decreased 23 points, or 0.18, to 12,911.

The bill, which was voted 314-117 late Wednesday, suspends the $31.4 trillion cap on the federal government's borrowing limit through January 2025.

It now heads to the Senate before President Joe Biden signs it into law.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, fell 2.5% to 17.48.

The 10-year US Treasury yield, meanwhile, fell 1.4% to 3.587%.

The dollar index was down 0.3% to 104.04, while the euro increased 0.3% to $1.0726 against the greenback.

Precious metals were in positive territory, with gold adding 0.5% to $1,972 per ounce and silver rising 0.2% to $23.55.

Oil prices were almost flat, with global benchmark Brent crude at $72.50 per barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate at $68.16.