Dow Jones opens strong despite GDP expectations falling short

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The Dow Jones opened strong on Thursday, moving to recover from two days of losses despite US GDP growth coming well below market expectations.

The blue-chip index soared 214 points, or 0.61%, to 35,145 at 9.36 a.m. EDT. The S&P 500 was up 19, or 0.44%, to 4,420.

The Nasdaq gained 45, or 0.3%, to 14,807 with Intel, Tesla and Airbnb each adding more than 1%. Zoom Video jumped 3.6%.

The positivity in indexes came despite disappointment in key GDP data, which rose at an annual rate of 6.5% in the second quarter -- well lower than what market expectations were of 8.5%.

The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes increased 0.36% to 1.268, but the dollar index slid 0.3% to 92.01.

After the Federal Reserve said Wednesday sectors most adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic have shown improvement, the VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, reversed course after three consecutive days of rising, and fell 4.9% to 17.41.

Precious metals saw gains with gold rising 1.14% to $1,827 per ounce and silver soaring 2.75% to $25.65.

European indexes were heading for a higher closing with strong financial results from Royal Dutch Shell and Airbus.

The STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 European countries, was up 0.45% to 463.77 points.

London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.95% to 7,084 and Germany's DAX 30 added 0.33% to 15,622.

France’s CAC 40 rose 0.55% to 6,645, while Italy's Borsa Italiana FTSE MIB 30 added 0.95% to 25,501.

Spain’s IBEX 35 was up 0.84% to 8,807.