US stocks up from worst 2-month loss before Fed minutes

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) – US stocks were up at Wednesday's opening after registering their worst daily performance since mid-December on Tuesday as investors await the release of the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes.

The Dow was up 59 points, or 0.18%, to 33,189 at 9.42 a.m. EDT. The blue-chip index dove 697 points, or 2.06%, during the previous session.

The S&P 500 rose 10 points, or 0.27%, to 4,008 after it fell 2% Tuesday and erased all of its gains since the beginning of February.

The Nasdaq added 58 points, or 0.51%, to 11,550 at the time. The tech-heavy index plummeted 2.5% in the previous session.

Investors await the minutes from the Fed's last two-day meeting that concluded Feb. 1 when the central bank raised interest rate by 25 basis points, slowing from December's rate hike of 50 basis points that followed four consecutive hikes of 75 basis points.

Whether the bank will pause its aggressive monetary tightening or consider small rate increases this year will be key for investors in the minutes.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, was down 0.1% to 22.85. The 10-year US Treasury yield, meanwhile, fell 1% to 3.916%.

The dollar index was down 0.1% to 104.08, while the euro added 0.1% to $1.0656 against the greenback.

Precious metals were mixed with gold increasing 0.1% to $1,836 an ounce but silver shedding 0.3% to $21.78.

Crude oil prices were down around 1% with global benchmark Brent at $82.15 per barrel, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate at $75.61.