US stocks mixed as volatility falls, dollar rises

ANKARA

US stocks were mixed Wednesday as a decline in volatility was offset by a rising US dollar.

After gaining 23 points at the first bell, the Dow Jones slipped 6 points into negative territory, trading at 34,306 at 9.50 a.m. EDT (1350GMT) with chipmaker Intel gaining 0.3% but investment banking firm Morgan Stanley shedding 1%.

The S&P 500 was flat, losing 3 points to 4,184 with Tesla adding 0.1%.

The Nasdaq, on the other hand, was up 44 to 13,701 with Zoom Video soaring 2.2% and Amazon gaining 0.4% after announcing it will acquire MGM Studios for $8.45 billion.

The VIX volatility index was down for a third consecutive day by 0.6% to 18.72. That, however, was upset by the rising value of the dollar.

The dollar index, which shows the strength of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, rose 0.2% to 89.85. The euro fell 0.2% against the dollar to 1.2229.

The yield on 10-year US Treasury bonds continued to decline, losing another 0.3% to 1.559%.

After rallying more than 11% on Monday, but losing 5% on Tuesday, Bitcoin was trading just above $39,000 for a 4% daily gain.

Gold resumed its rally, rising 0.1% to $1,901 per ounce, but silver remained weak, slashing 0.6% to 27.83.