US stock market opens lower Monday to start new week

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Major exchanges in the US opened lower on Monday to start the new week.

The blue-chip Dow Jones decreased 24 points, or 0.07%, to 33,650 at 9.45 a.m. EDT.

The S&P 500 fell only two points, or 0.06%, to reach 4,133.

Both exchanges on Friday gained over 1.6% to end their four-day losing streak after jobs figures came much better than market estimates.

The Nasdaq declined 34 points, or 0.28%, to 12,200 at the time.

VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, added 3.5% to 17.79.

The 10-year US Treasury yield, meanwhile, rose 1.7% to 3.503%.

The dollar index was down 0.1% to 101.11, while the euro increased 0.2% to $1.1036 against the greenback.

Precious metals were mixed, with the price of gold adding 0.3% to $2,023 per ounce but silver trimming 0.2% to $25.63 an ounce.

Crude oil prices, on the other hand, soared over 1.8% with the global benchmark Brent crude price at $76.66 per barrel and the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude price at $72.89.