U.S. stocks kicked off Thursday’s session slightly to the downside, despite confirmation from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday that its pace of rate hikes will be slower than previously expected. The Fed said it intends to hike rates twice in 2016. It was only three months ago that the Fed told markets of its inclination to raise rates four times in 2016. ‘When we saw the four rate hike expectations at the end of last year, I think everyone was a little bit amazed because many people didn’t think it was the right time for the first rate hike,’ said Craig Erlam, a senior market analyst at Oanda, in London, referring to the Fed’s initial rate hike made back in December. Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims rose by 7,000 last week to 265,000, though analysts had expected applications for unemployment benefits to hit 268,000. Finally, Caterpillar (CAT) issued lower first quarter guidance and expects earnings between $0.65 and $0.70, while analysts had forecasted $0.97. Revenue of between $9.3 and $9.4 billion was below Wall Street’s forecast of $10.4 billion. The construction equipment giant maintained its full-year outlook. The company faced headwinds from low oil prices and weaker growth out of China. TheStreet’s Scott Gamm reports from Wall Street.
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