US stock market opens lower over Fed rate hike worries

NEW YORK (AA) - The stock market opened lower Thursday over fears that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates in June.

The Dow Jones fell 65 points to begin the day at 17,461 points. The S&P 500 decreased 8 points to open at 2,038, while the Nasdaq was down 22 points to begin the day at 4,716.

With the fall, the S&P 500 erased its gains since the beginning of this year, and is now in negative territory.

On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee's April meeting minutes revealed it "likely would be appropriate" to have a rate hike in June if U.S. macroeconomic data suggest an increase in economic growth and labor market conditions.

After the minutes, the rise in value of the U.S. dollar against the euro and Chinese yuan was carried to Thursday, which also put downward pressure on oil prices.

At the opening bell, the American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was down 2 percent to $47.19 per barrel and international benchmark Brent crude fell 2.1 percent to $47.90.

Meanwhile, after the first quarter results of Walmart beat market expectations, shares in the world's biggest retailer rose more than 7 percent at the stock market opening.