US stock market opens higher with decline in unemployment

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ANKARA (AA) - US stocks opened higher on Friday with a decline in the November unemployment rate.

The Dow Jones was up 84 points, or 0.24%, to 34,724 at 9.37 a.m. The S&P 500 rose 17 points, or 0.37%, to 4,594.

The Nasdaq increased 19 points, or 0.13%, to 15,400.

US economy added 210,000 jobs last month, way below the market estimate of 550,000. The unemployment rate in the US decreased by 0.4 percentage point to 4.2% in November, from 4.6% in October.

The weak gain in nonfarm payrolls suggests that the Federal Reserve could delay its first rate hike next year.

The VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, was down 4% to 26.82.

The dollar index rose slightly by 0.07% to 96.22, while the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes gained 1.1% to 1.465%.

Crude prices were soared around 4%. Brent crude was trading at $72.44 per barrel, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude was at $69.09.

Precious metals were mixed with gold rising 0.2% to $1,772 an ounce, but silver losing 0.1% to $22.36.