US stock market down to kick off week on lower note

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Major indices in the US stock market opened with losses on Monday to kick off the new week on a lower note.

The Dow Jones was down 188 points, or 0.55%, to 34,241, while the S&P 500 fell 20 points, or 0.51%, to 4,050.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq decreased 44 points, or 0.4%, to 11,417.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, soared 5.3% to 20.07.

The 10-year US Treasury yield, meanwhile, rose 1.5% to 3.557%.

The dollar index rose 0.1% to 104.60, around its highest in 20 years, while the euro added 0.2% to $1.0556 against the greenback.

Precious metals were down with gold losing 0.6% to $1,787 per ounce and silver plummeting 2.2% to $22.63.

Oil prices gained more than 2%. Global benchmark Brent crude was trading at $87.76 per barrel for a rise of 2.5%, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude was around $87.17, up 2.7%.