THURSDAY – Stocks dipped in early morning trading Thursday but were off their lows as strong earnings from Walmart helped boost sentiment.

In early earnings action, Walmart topped expectations and reaffirmed guidance, sending shares up 1.7% in premarket trading and helping to stem losses for futures.

On the economic front, weekly jobless claims numbers came in at 248,000, rising from the previous week and above the 218,000 expected, according to a Dow Jones estimate. Housing permits for January showed a surprise increase, but housing starts lagged expectations.

The S&P 500 in Wednesday’s regular trading session closed little changed, while the Dow shed nearly 55 points and the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.1%.

The major stock averages came off their lows Wednesday after the release of minutes from the Fed’s January meeting.

The meeting summary showed the Fed is prepared to hike interest rates and reduce its balance sheet soon, as investors had already expected.