Opening Bell: U.S. Stocks Dip on Fed Rate Hike Fears; Walmart Shares Surge

U.S. stocks dipped on Thursday as investors processed hawkish minutes from the Federal Reserve, released Wednesday, putting a June rate hike in the spotlight. Fueling fears of a sooner than expected rate increase was fresh data on weekly jobless claims, which dropped by 16,000 over the last week to 278,000 on the heels of falling claims in the New York Area. Plus, Walmart (WMT) - Get Report shares surged following blowout first quarter earnings. Earnings of $0.98 a share eclipsed estimates of $0.88 a share. Revenue of $115.9 billion also topped Wall Street's forecasts of $113.3 billion. Same store sales gained 1 percent, compared to estimates of 0.5 percent. Tesla (TSLA) - Get Report shares rose after announcing a sale of $2 billion worth of common stock. The electric automaker said it will use the money to 'accelerate the ramp of Model 3,' which has seen a surge in demand. TheStreet's Scott Gamm reports from Wall Street.