U.S. stocks open lower after Fed minutes

U.S. stocks opened lower on Thursday as investors continued to digest the U.S. Federal Reserve's minutes from its July meeting.

According to the minutes released in the afternoon, some voting Federal Reserve policymakers believed that a U.S. interest rate increase will soon be needed, although there is a general agreement that more data is needed before such a move.

"The information reviewed for the July 26-27 meeting indicated that labor market conditions generally improved in June and that growth in real gross domestic product was moderate in the second quarter," said the minutes.

New York Fed President William Dudley, a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), said earlier this week that a rate hike as soon as September was "possible."

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart expected that there could be one or two rate increases this year.

"The most compelling reason to think the next hike could be in September is a division into three camps evident among FOMC participants: Those who are not ready to raise rates, those who are ready, and those who think the moment is soon," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial in a note on Thursday.

On the economic front, in the week ending Aug. 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 262,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 266,000, according to the U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 15.93 points, or 0.09 percent, to 18,558.01. The S&P 500 lost 1.30 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,180.92. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 4.78 points, or 0.09 percent, to 5,223.87.

U.S. stocks reversed early losses to end mildly higher Wednesday. U.S. equities rallied on Monday, with all three major indices setting new closing records for the second time in less than a week. Endi