Stocks Opened Lower amid Rate Hike Worries

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Thursday as investors grappled with comments from Federal Reserve officials about possibility of raising interest rates this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately dropped 54.72 points, or 0.30%, to 18,108.27. The S&P 500 was down 2.90 points, or 0.14%, to 2,120.58. The Nasdaq Composite fell 7.83 points, or 0.15%, to 5,098.76.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, but remained at levels consistent with a strengthening labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 282,000 for the week ended May 23, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Avago Technologies Ltd., a Singapore-based maker of semiconductors, agreed to buy Broadcom Corp. for $37 billion in the biggest technology acquisition ever. Avago will pay $17 billion in cash and $20 billion in stock in the transaction.

Hong Kong’s securities watchdog took the unusual step on Thursday of confirming that it is investigating Hanergy Thin Film Power Group, the stock that crashed spectacularly last week in a frenzied hour of trading.

GoPro (NASDAQ: GPRO) is diving headfirst into the virtual reality and drone markets. The camera maker that gained a following with snowboarders and skydivers is introducing a six-camera device to capture 360-degree spherical video. And  it’s coming out with a quadcopter drone for capturing video from up high in a whole new way.

Oil prices steadied on Thursday after a two-day slide as investors awaited data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) to see how American oil production was responding to a recent surge in prices. Front-month Brent (LCOc1) was up 20 cents at $62.26 a barrel by 1135 GMT.