High volatility, yields keep pressure on US stocks

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - High volatility and rising Treasury yields continue to put pressure on US stocks as major indexes opened lower on Tuesday.

The Dow Jones was down 90 points to 33,101 at 9.40 a.m. EDT (1340GMT) with Microsoft and Intel shedding more than 1%. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley recovered from previous losses by gaining 2% each.

The S&P 500 fell 17 to 3,953 and the Nasdaq was off 115 to 12,944 with Tesla plummeting 3%, while Moderna and Novavax lost more than 2% apiece.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, was as high as 21.48 at one point with a 3.5% gain before retreating to 21.10.

After staying dormant for the last few days, the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes was up 1.4% to 1.746%.

Bitcoin's recovery continued for a second day, trading just above the $59,000 mark for a 1.8% gain, while other cryptocurrencies were up as much as 11%.

Precious metals, on the other hand, have continued to plummet; gold was down 1.6% to $1,684 per ounce, and silver fell 2.2% to $24.1.