US open: Stocks head south following FOMC minutes

dl exchange place wall st street pl new york city nyc ny nyse stock exchange dow jones sp nasdaq finance dollar dollars us usa united states of america — Exchange PlaceSharecast photo / Josh White

Wall Street stocks were in the red early on Thursday as investors continued to mull over the central bank's plans to tighten monetary policy.

As of 1530 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.72% at 34,249.72, while the S&P 500 was 0.20% weaker at 4,472.23 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.08% softer at 13,877.02.

The Dow opened 246.79 points lower on Thursday, extending losses recorded in the previous session as market participants digested minutes from the FOMC's latest two-day policy meeting late in the day.

The Fed was still in focus at the open, with minutes from its latest meeting indicating that officials intended to reduce their trillions in bond holdings by a consensus amount of approximately $95.0bn. Policymakers also indicated that one or more 50 basis-point interest rate hikes may be necessary in order to battle surging inflation.

Officials also "generally agreed" that a maximum of $60.0bn in Treasurys and $35.0bn in mortgage-backed securities would be allowed to roll off, phased in over three months, starting May.

Traders also continued to monitor events in the Ukraine-Russia war, with Ukraine requesting NATO supply it with more weapons.

On the macro front, the US labour market was far tighter than previously thought, according to weekly jobless claims data from the Department of Labor. Initial unemployment claims declined by 5,000 over the week ended on 2 April to reach just 166,000 - far less than the 205,000 print anticipated by economists at Barclays Research.

The four-week moving average, which aims to smooth out the fluctuations in the often volatile data from one week to the next fell by 8,000 to 170,000. Secondary unemployment claims meanwhile, which are those not being filed for the first time and that reference the week until 26 March, edged up by 17,000 to 1.523m.

In the corporate space, Apogee posted a surprise fourth-quarter loss ahead of the bell on the back of heightened restructuring costs, while Corona parent company Constellation Brands beat fourth-quarter earnings estimates by 13.4%.

Dow Jones - Risers

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $86.40 1.69%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $534.84 0.58%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $157.66 0.53%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $155.76 0.50%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $300.86 0.45%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $250.51 0.23%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $172.08 0.15%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $44.36 0.10%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $230.94 0.00%