US stocks rebound from earlier losses to close with gains

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) – US stock exchanges rebounded from earlier losses to close with gains on Thursday.

The Dow Jones jumped 341 points, or 1.05%, to end the day at 33,003. The S&P 500 rose almost 30 points, or 0.76%, to 3,981.

The Nasdaq increased 83 points, or 0.73%, to finish the session at almost 11,463.

The indexes were under pressure earlier in the session after two officials of the US Federal Reserve supported a higher rate hike later this month in order to continue fight against persistent high inflation.

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said Wednesday the possibility of a 50 basis points of interest rate increase is on the table for the US central bank's next two-day meeting that will conclude on March 22.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, plummeted 4.1% to 19.74, and the 10-year US Treasury yield jumped 1.9% to 4.073%.

The dollar index rose 0.4% to 104.94, while the euro trimmed 0.6% to $1.0599 against the greenback.

Precious metals were mixed with gold being flat at $1,836 per ounce but silver decreasing 0.3% to $20.92.

Oil prices were up around 0.3%, with global benchmark Brent crude at $84.52 per barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate at $77.97.