US open: Stocks sharply lower following Fed interest rate decision

Major indices traded sharply lower early on Thursday as market participants continued to digest the Federal Reserve's move to raise interest rates by half a point.

As of 1515 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.89% at 33,417.38, while the S&P 500 was 2.38% softer at 4,197.82 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 3.35% weaker at 12,530.86.

The Dow Jones opened 643.68 points lower on Thursday, taking a massive bite out of gains recorded in the previous session after the Federal Reserve confirmed its first 50-basis point rate hike in more than two decades.

Stocks were in the red at the open after rising for a third straight session on Wednesday on the back of an announcement that the US central bank had hiked its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points. The Fed also said it would start cutting its balance sheet in June.

However, investor sentiment, which got a boost during chairman Jerome Powell's news conference when he stated the Fed was "not actively considering" a larger 75 basis point rate hike, became somewhat more cautious at the start of trading on Thursday as traders continued to assess the Fed's ability to slow inflation without triggering a recession.

On the macro front, new unemployment claims rose to 200,000 in the seven days ended 30 April, according to the Department of Labor, up from a revised print of 181,000 in the previous week for the highest reading since mid-February.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, initial claims slipped 7,164 week-on-week to 196,962, with marked declines in California and Ohio, while the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, came in at 1.41m - down 3,250 from the previous week's revised print.

In the corporate space, Shell reported its best quarterly profit since 2008 ahead of the open amid soaring commodity prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Still to come, DoorDash, Shake Shack and Zillow will report their latest quarterly earnings figures after the close of trading.

Dow Jones - Risers

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $168.80 0.72%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $237.16 0.45%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $230.94 0.00%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $88.43 -0.10%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $506.93 -0.14%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $64.85 -0.28%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $136.96 -0.32%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $48.15 -0.44%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $174.35 -0.63%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $179.24 -3.36%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $305.78 -3.02%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $122.34 -2.95%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $161.73 -2.58%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $282.67 -2.52%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $45.59 -2.04%
Visa Inc. (V) $210.84 -1.72%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $69.42 -1.69%
3M Co. (MMM) $151.84 -1.55%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $319.15 -1.53%

S&P 500 - Risers

Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $236.85 9.92%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $2,271.19 7.98%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $26.16 6.56%
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) $63.98 3.91%
Twitter Inc (TWTR) $50.90 3.76%
Kellogg Co. (K) $70.10 3.32%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $28.59 3.25%
Westrock Company (WRK) $54.40 3.11%
CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $10.97 3.00%
Quanta Services Inc. (PWR) $124.62 2.75%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $78.11 -7.41%
Qorvo, Inc. (QRVO) $111.30 -6.74%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $50.79 -6.67%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $291.26 -6.31%
Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) $13.32 -6.06%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $87.42 -5.72%
Apache Corp. (APA) $42.74 -5.44%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $425.60 -4.98%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $193.90 -4.96%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $142.21 -4.91%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $2,271.19 7.98%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $458.12 2.18%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $236.70 0.25%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $75.74 0.05%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $108.24 0.00%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $182.50 0.00%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $0.00 0.00%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $179.20 0.00%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $194.92 0.00%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $103.14 0.00%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $78.11 -7.41%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $950.03 -7.15%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $50.79 -6.67%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $291.26 -6.31%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $59.35 -6.06%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $87.42 -5.72%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $22.37 -5.21%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $425.60 -4.98%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $193.90 -4.96%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $142.21 -4.91%