US stocks open higher on strong company earnings

ANKARA

US stocks opened higher Wednesday as strong quarterly earnings from American companies continue to give confidence to investors.

The Dow Jones was up 277 points, or 0.79%, to 35,190 at 9.33 a.m. EDT. The S&P 500 added 22 points, or 0.5%, to 4,482.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 23 points, or 0.17%, to 13,643.

US-based multinational consumer goods corporation Procter & Gamble posted net earnings of approximately $3.37 billion during the January-March period, up 3.7% from almost $3.25 billion in the same period last year.

Its net sales totaled almost $19.4 billion -- a gain of 7.2% from $18.1 billion.

Procter & Gamble's stock was up 1.47% to $161.75 at 9.33 a.m. on the New York Stock Exchange.

The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes fell 0.86% to 2.890%. The dollar index lost 0.52% to 100.43.

The VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, plummeted 5.6% to 20.17.

Precious metals were down with gold losing 0.21% to $1,946 and silver shedding 0.54% to $25.04.

Crude oil prices were up slightly.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at $108.05, up 0.75%, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $102.86 -- a 0.8% gain.