US indices continue rally with strong retail sales

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Major indices in the US stock market continued their rally on Friday from the previous session with a strong September increase in retail sales.

The Dow Jones was up 247 points, or 0.71%, to 35,160 at 9.49 a.m. EDT, after the blue-chip index soared 1.56% on Thursday -- its best single-day since July 20.

The S&P 500 rose 22, or 0.5%, to 4,460, after it jumped 1.71% on previous session, marking its biggest percentage gain since March 5.

The Nasdaq increased 41, or 0.28%, to 14,865. The tech-heavy index posted Thursday a 1.73% increase, its single largest gain since May 20.

The rally continued after US retail sales rose sharply in September by 0.7% from the previous month, despite analysts' estimate of a 0.2% decline.

Yet, positive sentiment in the markets pushed the VIX volatility index down, as the fear index was down another 5% to 16.02.

The dollar index was flat at 93.96, while the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes rose 3.1% to 1.567%.

Oil prices were on the rise again with international benchmark Brent crude trading at $84.94 with a 1.1% gain and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was at $82.34 -- a 1.2% increase.

Precious metals, on the other hand, ended their recent rally by reversing course. Gold was down 1.4% to $1,772 per ounce and silver declined 0.8% to $23.33.