Stocks Closed Lower admid Fed Hike Talk

U.S. stocks closed lower on Thursday, pressured by fears of a sooner-than-expected Federal Reserve rate hike in June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 91.22 points, or 0.52%, to 17,435.40. The S&P 500 was down 7.59 points, or 0.37%, to 2,040.04. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 26.59 points, or 0.56%, to 4,712.53.

Oil prices retreated from 2016 highs and snapped a two-day rally on Wednesday, hurt by a surge in the dollar. Brent settled down 35 cents at $48.93 a barrel. WTI closed down 12 cents at $48.19 a barrel.

Tesla Motors Inc. has canceled about 4,200 reservations for its Model 3 sedan on concerns that they are duplicates placed by speculators. Tesla said 373,000 customers have placed reservations for the Model 3, according to a late Wednesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Sports Authority will close all of its 450-plus stores across the United States after it was unable to secure a buyer, according to a new court filing.

Gap Inc., under pressure to turn around operations amid a prolonged sales slump, said it plans to close all its Old Navy stores in Japan and some Banana Republics mostly outside of North America by the end of its business year.