US stock market opens lower as Fed chair's speech looms

NEW YORK (AA) - Wall Street opened lower Thursday with anticipation in the markets that the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech on Friday may indicate a rate hike next month.

The Dow Jones fell 22 points to begin the day at 18,458. The S&P 500 was down three points to 2,172, while the Nasdaq fell nine points to 5,207 at the start of the day.

Markets will now focus on Yellen's speech in Jackson Hole on Friday morning when the Fed chairwoman may use wording to signal a raise in the bank's benchmark interest rate in September.

Meanwhile, the stock market was down despite positive macroeconomic data released earlier Thursday.

Durable Goods Orders for July rose 4.4 percent, according to the Department of Commerce, marking its highest monthly jump this year and beating the market expectation of a 3.4 percent increase.

In addition, initial jobless claims retreated to their lowest level in the last five weeks with 261,000, beating the market consensus of 265,000, according to the Department of Labor.