Wall Street stumbles into midday despite jobless data surprise

12:32pm: Traders weigh Fed meeting against jobless claims expectations beat The Dow swooned 371 points, more than 1%, to 33,663 at midday. The Nasdaq hit a morning high of 14,196 but has since fallen to 14,069, a gain of 29 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 lost 24 points, 0.6%, to 4,199. "A volatile start to the US session has highlighted the difficulties faced by markets, with a rare rise in jobless claims highlighting how traders are unsure how economic surprises should be treated," IG Senior Market Analyst Joshua Mahony wrote. "Yesterday’s FOMC meeting served as a rude awakening for the markets, with the presumption that monetary policy would remain accommodative in spite of rising inflation being severely undermined." 10am: Proactive North America headlines: Revive Therapeutics Ltd (CSE:RVV) (OTCMKTS:RVVTF) (FRA:31R) collaborates with University of Health Sciences Antigua to pioneer clinical development of psychedelics GameSquare Esports Inc (CSE:GSQ) (FRA:29Q1) company GCN forges new commercial partnership with Crossovr Collective and The Drew League American Battery Metals Corporation (OTCQB:ABML) receives unanimous approval for a Conditional Use Permit regarding a forthcoming lithium-ion battery recycling plan LexaGene Holdings Inc (OTCQB:LXXGF) (CVE:LXG) (FRA:5XS2) says its MiQLab diagnostic testing system can detect the pathogen that causes plague Victory Square Technologies Inc's (CSE:VST) (OTCMKTS:VSQTF) (FRA:6F6) portfolio company GameOn secures exclusive partnership to bring cricket prediction games to Indian entertainment app Atlas Engineered Products Ltd (CVE:AEP) (OTCMKTS:APEUF) updates on organic growth initiatives at its newest acquisition, Novum Building Components Neo Lithium Corp (CVE:NLC) (OTCQX:NTTHF) (FRA:NE2) achieves 99.9% purity of battery-grade lithium carbonate at 3Q pilot plant Lingo Media Corporation’s (CVE:LM) (OTCMKTS:LMDCF) (FRA:LIMA) subsidiary unveils Ola mobile app to aide English language learners on the go Else Nutrition Holdings Inc (CVE:BABY) (OTCMTKS:BABYF) (FRA:0YL) introduces plant-based protein shakes for kids Fobi AI Inc (CVE:FOBI) (OTCQB:FOBIF) finds a new VP in multi-faceted product expert Jolie Summers Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc (CSE:AGN) (FRA:AGW) (OTCQB:AGNPF) targets first human study for its DMT stroke program in 4Q 2021 C3 Metals Inc (CVE:CCCM) (OTCMKTS:CARCF) set for geophysics surveys at Peru project to investigate deeper copper porphyry potential KULR Technology Group Inc (NYSEAMERICAN:KULR) gets special permit from DoT authorizing transport of prototype lithium cells and batteries for commerce Metalla Royalty & Streaming Ltd (CVE:MTA) (NYSEAMERICAN:MTA) (FRA:X9C) buys royalty on part of Côté project, set to become one of Canada's largest gold mines 9:37am: Wall Street makes slow start The main indices on Wall Street started Thursday’s session on a somewhat static note following worse than expected jobless claims data. Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.03% at 34,044, while the S&P 500 inched up 0.02% to 4,224 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.07% to 14,029. The mostly neutral start followed an 37,000 increase in weekly US jobless claims to 412,000 last week, confounding analysts who had expected a drop to 360,000 from 376,000 the previous week. This is the first rise since late April. The four week moving average, however, was down 8,000 to 395,000, the lowest level since March 14 last year. 7:40am: Wall Street set for lower start Wall Street is expected to open lower after the US Federal Reserve last night revealed itself to be more hawkish on interest rates and the strength of the economy than had been expected. Sophie Griffiths, market analyst at Oanda, said: "The US central bank now expects two interest rate hikes in 2023, up from zero in the last meeting. Even more significantly, seven policymakers out of 17 expect at least one hike in 2022. The Fed upwardly revised its growth and inflation outlook. In short, the Federal Reserve sees the US economy recovering at a faster pace than before, warranting an acceleration towards policy normalisation." In the wake of the Fed meeting, the three main US indices fell back and are forecast to continue that trend today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is set to drop 95 points or 0.27% while the S&P 500 is expected to lose 0.31% and the Nasdaq Composite is indicated 0.48% lower. The main data for the day is the weekly jobless claim numbers. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefit is forecast to keep falling, down to 360,000 last week from 376,000 the previous week. Elsewhere CureVac BV is down 46% in pre-market trading on Nasdaq after the German pharmaceutical group revealed disappointing results for its COVID-19 vaccine. Its jab is only 47% effective, one of the worst results from any of the current crop of vaccines. Four things to watch for on Thursday: Companies in the earnings diary today include software firm Adobe Inc (NASDAQ:ADBE), grocery giant Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) and design engineering group Jabil Inc (NYSE:JBL) Genetics firm 23andMe will be in focus as the company begins its first day of trading on the Nasdaq Aircraft maker Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) may also draw attention after its troubled 737 MAX plane was hit with demands for repeated tests on its flight control systems by the US aviation regulator On the macro front, aside from the jobless figures, there will also be the latest Philly manufacturing index for investors to take a look at