US stocks open Friday higher after strong jobs figure

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US stocks opened Friday with gains after strong jobs figure for December beating estimates.

The Dow Jones was up 16 points, or 0.04%, to start the day at 37,457 at 9.37 a.m. EDT. The S&P 500 rose 11 points, or 0.24%, to 4,700.

The Nasdaq increased 37 points, or 0.26%, to 14,548 after the tech-heavy index closed lower Thursday for a fifth consecutive trading day, marking its longest losing streak since October 2022.

American economy added 216,000 jobs in December, much higher than market estimates of 170,000, the Labor Department announced earlier.

The unemployment rate, however, remained unchanged at 3.7% in December, compared to the previous month.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, fell 3.3% to 13.66. The 10-year US Treasury yield rose 1.56% to 4.049%.

The dollar index increased 0.04% to 102.45, while the euro shed 0.05% to $1.0939 against the greenback.

Precious metals continued their gains, with gold adding 0.1% to $2,045 per ounce and silver rising 0.2% to $23.05.

Oil prices were also in the green, with global benchmark Brent crude up 1.2% to $78.53 per barrel, and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude adding 1.7% to $73.43.