Stocks open modestly lower after a weeklong rally

By Ken Sweet, Associated Press

Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015 | 8:06 a.m.

NEW YORK — U.S. stock are slightly lower in early trading Thursday as investors wait for the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average lost 32 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,880 as of 9:55 a.m. Eastern. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost five points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,991 and the Nasdaq composite fell 20 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,771.

FED WATCH: While the minutes from the Federal Reserve's regular policy meetings are typically a ho-hum affair, the mood is different this time. In September, the Fed decided to hold off raising interest rates, citing concerns about the global economy. Investors are going to be looking for any insight into whether the Fed will hold off raising rates this month or in December.

"Traders are wondering how close a call it was to keep interest rates unchanged in September," said David Madden, market analyst at IG.

STOP-PRO: Camera maker GoPro sank $1.19, or 4 percent, to $28.13, after analysts at Morgan Stanley drastically cut their price target on the company, citing weak demand for GoPro's most recent products. GoPro's stock has been in free-fall for weeks and is coming close to falling below its IPO price it set two years ago.

WRITEDOWNS: Deutsche Bank fell 30 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $28.49 after the bank said it would take $6.5 billion in writedowns in its corporate and investment banking divisions.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 72 cents to $48.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent Crude, which is used to price international oils, climbed 76 cents to $52.54 a barrel in London.

BONDS, CURRENCIES: U.S. government bond prices were little changed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note held steady at 2.07 percent. The euro rose to $1.1249 while the dollar edged down to 119.94 yen.