US stocks open higher after Trump impeached

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US stocks opened higher Thursday, one day after President Donald Trump became the first-ever to be impeached twice.

The Dow was up 72 points to 31,132 at 9.34 a.m. EDT (1434GMT) and the S&P 500 rose six points to 3,816.

The Nasdaq was up 55 to 13,183 as companies that saw a steady rise in their stock during the initial months of the coronavirus pandemic, including Netflix, Zoom and Intel, gaining 1%.

The dollar index hovered above the $90 threshold, putting downward pressure on crude prices that hurt the purchasing power of oil importing countries.

The price of Brent crude was $55.67, falling 0.7%, while the US' West Texas Intermediate was at $52.73, posting a 0.3% decline.

Precious metals struggled to recover from recent losses with gold at $1,847 per ounce and silver at $25.5 as investors await a new stimulus package from President-elect Joe Biden after he takes office Jan. 20.

The package is expected to be more than $1 trillion and revive the world's largest economy through additional liquidity, which is struggling with high unemployment, weak productivity and low inflation that is below the Federal Reserve's target of 2%.

The US House of Representatives voted 232-197 to impeach Trump on a single article of incitement of insurrection Wednesday for his alleged role in last week's deadly siege of the Capitol building, sending the matter to the Senate for a trial that is expected to begin after Biden takes office.

In a video released Wednesday, Trump "unequivocally" condemned the violence that caused the death of five people and said "no true supporter of mine could ever endorse political violence."