S&P 500 hits new all-time high as US stocks open higher

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US stocks opened Monday with gains, with the S&P 500 reaching a new all-time high shortly after the opening bell.

The S&P 500 was up 23 points, or 0.48%, to 4,863 at 9.45 a.m. EDT (1445GMT) shortly after climbing to new record of 4,864.60 points.

The Dow Jones increased 208 points, or 0.55%, to 38,073 at the time.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose by 90 points or 0.59%, reaching 15,401.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, added 2.2% to 13.59. The 10-year US Treasury yield shed 1.3% to 4.092%.

The dollar index decreased 0.09% to 103.21, while the euro trimmed 0.05% to $1.0892 against the greenback.

Precious metals were in negative territory with gold losing 0.37% to $2,022 per ounce and silver declining 2.3% to $22.11.

Oil prices, on the other hand, were in the green with global benchmark Brent crude rising 1.2% to $79.48 per barrel, and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude increasing 1.3% to $74.20 a barrel.

Bitcoin, on the other hand, decreased 3% for the day to $40,564 and Ethereum lost 4.7% to $2.362.

Total value of the cryptocurrency market was down almost 3.1% to $1.6 trillion at the time, according to data from CoinMarketCap, a digital asset price-tracking website.