Stocks Opened Lower, Eyed on Fed

U.S. stocks opened lower on Thursday as signs that the Federal Reserve’s next interest-rate hike could come as early as June spooked investors. The Dow industrial Average lately fell 126.48 points, or 0.72%, to 17,400.14. The S&P 500 fell 14.77 points, or 0.72%, to 2,032.86. The Nasdaq Composite fell 28.87 points, or 0.61%, to 4,710.25.

The number of people seeking U.S. jobless aid fell sharply last week, partially reversing two weeks of big gains that had raised concerns about rising layoffs. Weekly applications for unemployment aid dropped 16,000 to 278,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Oil fell below $48 a barrel on Thursday, pressured by a stronger dollar and a surprise increase in U.S. crude inventories. Brent crude was down $1.11 cents at $47.82 by 1330 GMT.

German drugs and chemicals group Bayer has made an unsolicited takeover proposal to U.S. seeds company Monsanto, aiming to create the world’s biggest agricultural supplier and take advantage of converging pesticides and seeds markets.

Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings but issued downbeat guidance for the second quarter. It posted earnings of 50 cents a share for the quarter ended April 30. Net sales for the first quarter of 2016 increased 6.1% to about $1.7 billion.