Stocks Opened Slightly Lower after Fed’s Decision

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserve signaled it could raise interest rates for the third time this year despite low inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 36.94 points, or 0.16%, to 22,375.65. The S&P 500 lost 8.64 points, or 0.34%, to 2,499.60. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 38.61 points, or 0.60%, to 6,417.43.

Oil prices eased off a five-month high, marking at least a temporary pause in a rally led by a sharp fall in U.S. distillate stocks which has driven up refining margins, causing a jump in demand for crude globally. November West Texas Intermediate crude traded at $50.18 a barrel, down 51 cents, or 1%. November Brent crude fell 41 cents, or 0.7%, to $55.88 a barrel.

Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell sharply in mid-September, reflecting fewer new claims than expected in Florida and Texas following a pair of destructive hurricanes. Initial weekly claims in the period running from Sept. 11 to Sept. 16 fell by 23,000 to 259,000, the government said Thursday.

Google is biting off a big piece of device manufacturer HTC for $1.1 billion to expand its efforts to build phones, speakers and other gadgets equipped with its arsenal of digital services. It’s buying the HTC engineering team that built the Pixel smartphone for Google in a cash deal, the companies said in a joint statement Thursday.