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U.S. stock benchmarks traded mixed Thursday morning, with tech extending declines after the worst daily drubbing for that segment of the market in months, in the wake of the release of minutes from the December Federal Reserve, which implied that policy makers could move sooner and tighten financial conditions faster in combat against rising inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
was trading up 9 points, or less than 0.1%, to reach 36,410, the S&P 500 index
SPX,
was trading 13 points, or 0.3%, higher at 4,715, while the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
which took the brunt of the recent downtrend, was rising 0.4% at 15,162, after opening lower.
Markets are parsing data that showed first-time jobless claims rose slightly last week to 207,000, but remained near a 52-week low. Claims rose from a revised 200,000 in the previous week. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected initial claims to total a seasonally adjusted 195,000 in the seven days ended Jan. 1.
Wednesday’s steep drop followed the minutes that also indicated that Fed officials were inclined to also adopt a more aggressive wind down of its $8.9 trillion balance sheet than the last time it reduced it.
