US open: Stocks move in tight ranges after unemployment data

US equities struggled for direction early on Thursday as Wall Street reversed the previous session’s Federal Reserve-driven gains.

Shortly before 1500 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 10 points to 17,727.04 while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were one and three points higher respectively.

Fed hints at December hike

On Wednesday night, the minutes from the latest Fed meeting indicated the US central bank is set to raise short term interest rates for the first time in almost a decade.

“The FOMC struck a particularly hawkish tone in the minutes released yesterday, providing markets with a strong degree of certainty that we will see a hike in December,” said IG’s market analyst Joshua Mahony.

“The meeting took place prior to this month’s bumper jobs report, which highlights that, barring an absolute shocker in December, Janet Yellen and the Fed can achieve the 2015 hike they seek.”

According to the Labor Department, new claims declined by 5,000 to 271,000 in the week to 14 November, in line with expectations.

The average of new claims over the last four weeks rose by 3,000 to seasonally adjusted 270,750, the highest level in eight weeks.

"We view US labor market strength as very much intact and expect another month of solid job gains to pave the way for the Fed to raise rates in December," said analysts at Barclays.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index rose from -4.5 in October to 1.9 in November, returning into positive territory for the first time in two months and surpassing forecast for a -0.8 reading.

Market participants will also hear from Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, who is due to speak at 1730 GMT in Atlanta, while Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer will speak in San Francisco at 2145 GMT.

In company news, Pfizer slid 1.47% after edging closer to seal a deal for drug maker Allergan, which fell 1.26%, while mobile-payments startup Square will make its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

Cloud computing solutions provider Salesforce.com and personal beverage system group Keurig Green Mountain surged 6.93% and 15.7% respectively after both posted better-than-expected quarterly results late on Wednesday.

Among the companies that reported before the opening bell, technology group Best Buy tumbled 6.77% after reporting a sharper-than-expected decline in quarterly sales and warning its revenue for the December quarter might fall.

UnitedHealth fell 4.41% after it cut its earnings outlook for the full year, adding it expects "major losses" on its business through the Affordable Care Act's exchanges and could go as far withdrawing from the programme, while Gap, Fresh Market and Intuit are among those reporting after the close.

Elsewhere, Asian stocks rallied on the back of the Fed minutes, while European equities were also on the front foot and oil prices declined. West Texas Intermediate fell 1.42% to $40.18 a barrel, while Brent shed 0.20% to $44.05 a barrel.

The dollar was on the back foot against the main currencies, sliding 0.29% and 0.19% against the yen and the euro respectively and losing 0.21% against the pound, while gold spot gained 1.10% to $1,082.48.