Investing.com – Wall Street opened higher on Thursday as bond yields eased back from four-year highs and worries over increased interest rates remained.
The S&P 500 was up 15 points or 0.56% to 2,716.47 as of 9:46 AM ET (14:46 GMT) while the Dow composite increased 173 points or 0.70% to 24,970.81, and tech heavy NASDAQ Composite rose over 41 points or 0.57% to 7,259.51.
Fresh concerns over interest rates surfaced on Wednesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting minutes underlined expectations for faster interest rate hikes
A recent batch of stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation data has bolstered bets that the Fed could increase interest rates as many as four times this year, more than the three it currently forecasts.
Bond yields eased back from four-year highs, with the yield on the benchmark 10-Year Treasury note falling to 2.915% and the 30 year note at 3.195%. Increasing bond yields have sparked investor concern about the rising inflation. As bond yields rise, prices fall.
Technology stocks were among the biggest gainers after the morning bell. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 1.29% while Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) jumped 1.14% and Boeing (NYSE:BA) increased 1.09%. Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc (NASDAQ:HMNY) surged 6.67% after the company announced it was increasing its ownership of MoviePass.
Elsewhere social media app Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) was down 2.82% while streaming device firm Roku Inc (NASDAQ:ROKU) slumped 21.06% after it announced a weak sales forecast. Wayfair Inc (NYSE:W) was down 16.42%.
In Europe stocks were mixed. In Germany the DAX fell 83 points or 0.67% while France’s CAC 40 decreased eight points or 0.17% and in London the FTSE 100 lost 211 points or 0.93%. Meanwhile Spain’s IBEX 35 was up 16 points or 0.17% and the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 inched down 11 points or 0.32%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.20% to $1,329.40 a troy ounce while crude oil futures rose 0.39% to $61.92 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.33% to 89.73.