HispanicBusiness

U.S. stock indexes dropped Thursday morning as investors pulled back on doubts about how long the Federal Reserve would continue with a liquidity program.

In meeting minutes released Wednesday, the Fed revealed divisions among members of the Open Market Committee about how to support the economic recovery.

Optimism was also tempered Thursday by a climb in first-time claims for unemployment benefits. The Labor Department said claims rose by 20,000 in the week to 362,000.

In midmoring trading, the Dow Jones industrial average gave up 57.03 points or 0.41 percent to 13,874.11.

The Standard and Poor's 500 lost 7.39 points, or 0.49 percent, to 1,504.56 points.

The Nasdaq composite shed 18.62 points, or 0.59 percent, to 3,145.79 points.

The 10-year U.S. treasury rose 11/32 to yield 1.976 percent.

Against the dollar the euro fell to $1.3227 from Wednesday's $1.3283. Against the yen, the dollar was lower at 92.87 yen from 93.56 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed at 11,309.13 points, dropping 159.15 points or 1.39 percent.