US stocks lower as markets digest Fed; Nasdaq shruggs off statement
On Thursday U.S. stocks traded lower, as investors weighed the Federal Reserve statement that indicated a rate hike would come gradually.
Major indices gave back some of their gains from Wednesday, while the Nasdaq was higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded down 67 points, or 0.37 percent, at 18,010, with Chevron the leading laggards and Cisco and Apple the greatest advancers.
The S&P 500 fell 5 points, or 0.26 percent, to 2,093, with energy leading seven sectors lower and health care the greatest advancer.
The Nasdaq traded up 9 points, or 0.19 percent, to 4,992.
"When the Fed does raise rates they're not going to be as aggressive," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital. "It's all part of a technical movement (today). A lot of people got caught on the wrong side of the Fed (yesterday)." He added that Thursday's session would also focus on options expirations on Friday.
The U.S. 10 year note yield held below 2 percent. The U.S. dollar
recovered some of its recent losses.
Crude oil lost about 4 percent on OPEC news, falling $1.76 to $42.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $12.40 to $1,163.70 an ounce in morning trade.
On the economy front, weekly jobless claims climbed slightly to 291,000 for the week ended March 14. The national current account deficit sharply widened in the fourth quarter to the largest level since 2012.
Data expected on Thursday include the Philly Fed's business outlook index at 10.00 a.m. ET, along with the Conference Board's Leading Indicator for February.
Apple officially becomes a member of the Dow Jones industrial average, replacing AT&T in the index as Visa's 4-for-1 stock split takes effect, says CNBC.
