Tapering fears extend Wall Street’s losses; Dow drops 160 points

The stock market in the United States opened substantially lower on Thursday, extending losses from the previous day on expectations that the Federal Reserve may begin to remove its monetary stimulus in the coming weeks.

Another post-pandemic low in weekly initial unemployment claims bolstered expectations of a ‘tapering’ of bond purchases. Initial jobless claims decreased to 348,000, a larger decline than predicted and more evidence that the labor market is improving

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 164 points, or 0.5 percent, at 34,797 points at 9:40 a.m. ET (1340 GMT). The Nasdaq Composite was also down 0.6 percent and the S& P 500 was down 0.5 percent.