U.S. stocks decline after Fed minutes

U.S. stocks traded sharply lower around midday Thursday as Wall Street continued to digest the Federal Reserve's minutes of its latest policy meeting.

At noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 151.72 points, or 0.87 percent, to 17,374.90. The S&P 500 dipped 16.70 points, or 0.82 percent, to 2,030.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 50.77 points, or 1.07 percent, to 4,688.35.

U.S. Fed officials are open to an interest rate hike in June, if the economy continues to improve, according to the minutes of the Fed's April 26-27 meeting released Wednesday afternoon.

"Most participants judged that if incoming data were consistent with economic growth picking up in the second quarter, labor market conditions continuing to strengthen, and inflation making progress toward the (Federal Open Market) Committee's 2 percent objective, then it likely would be appropriate for the Committee to increase the target range for the federal funds rate in June," said the minutes.

The minutes raised concerns that the Fed may be more hawkish on a second rate hike, which dampened investor sentiment.

On the economic front, in the week ending May 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 278,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's unrevised level, said the U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

The four-week moving average was 275,750, an increase of 7,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 268,250.

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks closed mixed as investors assessed the possibility of a June rate hike following the release of the Fed's highly-anticipated minutes. Endit