US stock market opens lower after strong rally

ANKARA

Major indexes on the US stock market opened lower on Friday after a massive rally in previous session after the Federal Reserve delayed the formal start of tapering.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 33 points, or 0.1%, to 34,745 at 9.48 a.m. EDT, after the blue-chip index soared 844 points in the last two sessions.

The S&P 500 declined 9 points, or 0.2%, to 4,439, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 98 points, or 0.66%, to 14,953.

The Fed said Wednesday that moderation in the pace of asset purchases may soon be warranted, indicating tapering would soon begin. Experts believe the bank may start tapering, the process of scaling back its $120 billion worth of monthly bond purchases, in November or latest by December.

While delay of tapering provided relief for investors, leading to a rally in markets, uncertainties surrounding Chinese real estate developer Evergrande continue to pose risks.

China's second-largest property developer has missed the deadline of a $83.5 million interest payment that was due Thursday, and it has not made an announcement about it yet.

Amid risks, the VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, was up 2.2% to 19.04, while the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes increased 2.8% to 1.449%.

The dollar index, on the other hand, was down 0.1% to 93.34.

Precious metals were mixed with gold adding 0.04% to $1,743 per ounce, but silver losing 1.1% $22.25.

Oil prices were up around 0.3% with Brent crude trading at $77.52 per barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude at $73.47.

Bitcoin was down around 5% at the time around $41,850 after the People’s Bank of China announced earlier it will tighten regulation on cryptocurrency activities, including trading, mining and banning overseas exchanges' services to Chinese residents.

Some digital coins posted a decline of up to 13% amid Beijing's crackdown.