U.S. stocks open mixed after Fed minutes

U.S. stocks opened mixed on Thursday, following solid gains Wednesday, as the newly-released minutes from the Federal Reserve's October meeting bolstered expectations of a December rate hike.

According to the minutes, most participants anticipated that, based on their assessment of the current economic situation and their outlook for economic activity, the labor market, and inflation, these conditions could well be met by the time of the next meeting.

"Rates are going to rise on December 16 unless clear evidence the economy has broken emerges in the next few weeks," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note Thursday.

Most analysts believed that the U.S. central bank will begin raising interest rates next month.

On the economic front, in the week ending Nov. 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 271,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's unrevised level, according to the U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

In corporate news, shares of Best Buy dropped more than 5 percent in early trading even after the company announced a better-than-expected quarterly profit.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 23.51 points, or 0.13 percent, to 17,713.65. The S&P 500 inched down 0.31 points, or 0.01 percent, to 2,083.27. The Nasdaq Composite Index ticked up 3.42 points, or 0.07 percent, to 5,078.62. Endi