US Stock Markets Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq Open Flat After Day Of Selloff

The main Wall Street indices opened almost flat on Wednesday, a day after the US stock market settled lower as selloff intensified.

The S&P 500 rose fractionally by 0.02% to 5,816.58 at the opening bell, whereas the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite opened 0.1% higher at 18,333.29.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, slipped 0.1% to 42,706.49 at the opening bell.

Seven out of the 11 S&P 500 sectoral indices were edging higher, with financials, real estate and industrials leading the gains. The four indices in the red were consumer staples, communication, consumer discretionary and information technology.

The Bloomberg Dollar Index was little changed at 103.248. The British Pound was also flat at 1.302 against the greenback. The Euro slipped 0.04% to 1.088.

Bitcoin, which has gained momentum in the run-up to the US presidential elections, edged higher as the US markets opened. It was trading 0.5% higher at $67,411.

In the commodities market, gold continued to build momentum as expectations have grown for another rate cut in the Nov. 7 meeting of the US Federal Reserve. Spot gold was trading 0.53% higher at 2,676.9 an ounce at 10:05 a.m. (GMT-4).

Crude oil prices, whose recent plunge has adversely hit energy stocks, edged lower. Futures of Brent, the global crude benchmark, was trading 0.34% lower at $74.1 per barrel at 10:08 a.m. (GMT-4). The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 0.27% at 70.39 a barrel.

Before the US markets opened, its Asian peers faced a decline. Japan's Nikkei 225 shed 1.8%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.16%, and India's NSE Nifty 50 settled 0.34% lower.