Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com – The U.S. stock exchanges opened Wednesday morning with losses. Investors were prompted to cash out before long holidays by fears that monetary policy would be tightened faster.

The initial number of jobless claims dropped to 199,000 in the last week. It was their lowest point since 1969. This could be interpreted as a signal that there is an increasing labor force and companies have to do more to maintain staff. However, the number of jobless continues to rise.  While core durable goods orders held steady in October and September numbers were slightly revised higher in September, overall durable goods orders saw a back-to-back decrease in monthly orders for the first year in a row due to declines in volatile segments like aerospace and defense.

The index had dropped 0.4% to 35,670 by 09:40 GMT (1440 GMT) With a 0.6% drop, the and, which was hit more than any of the other indices Tuesday by rising capitalist rates, saw a 1.0% decline.