VIX volatility index increased to 12.97 by 4%.
US stock markets saw losses at opening on Monday after a profitable week for the fourth time in a row.
At 9:37 a.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 39 points, or 0.11%, at 35,350.
The S&P 500 dropped to 4,558, down 11 points, or 0.25%. In contrast, the Nasdaq dropped 36 points, or 0.26%, to 14,214.
At the time, the fear index, or VIX volatility index, was up 4% to 12.97. The yield on the US Treasury 10-year note dropped 0.6% to 4.455%.
In comparison to the greenback, the euro fell 0.1% to $1.0929, while the dollar index fell 0.1% to 103.41.
Silver increased 1.5% to $24.70 while gold added 0.4% to $2,011 an ounce, putting precious metals in positive territory.
With US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude at $74.95, and global benchmark Brent crude at $79.95 per barrel, oil prices declined by about 0.6%.