US stocks close slightly lower; energy, health care weigh

The stock provided the biggest boost to the three major indexes, accounting for almost a fifth of the Dow's gains.

The broad-based S&P 500 jumped 33.14 (1.62 per cent) to 2,083.58, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 89.19 (1.79 per cent) to 5,075.20.

Futures prices pointed to Wall Street's main S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial and Nasdaq markets adding around 0.4 per cent to the sharp 1.4-1.6-per-cent gains they had made on Wednesday.

RETAIL RALLY: Ross Stores gained $4.37, or 9.5 percent, to $50.57 after reporting results that were better than analysts were expecting.

The Nasdaq rose about 1.8 percent as the iShares Biotechnlogy ETF (iBB) gained almost 3 percent.

Pfizer was down 3.5 percent, making it the biggest drag on the S&P, after reports that the company's talks to buy Allergan and redomicile in Ireland were in final stages. Single-family building permits rose 2.4 percent to their highest level since December 2007.

"Following October's surprisingly hawkish statement investors will be keen to investigate the nitty-gritty of the Fed's last get-together in order to try and ascertain the likelihood of that a much talked-about December lift-off", suggests Connor Campbell, of spread betting firm Spreadex.

St. Louis Fed president James Bullard said the United States central bank will return to an era where there is more uncertainty on interest rate moves on a meeting-by-meeting basis after an initial rate hike.

Gold stocks are seeing significant strength, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surging up by 3.5 percent.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 15.39 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 13,415.36 shortly after opening.

The Fed has taken such pains that many several emerging market and other central bankers for a few time have been telling the Fed to just do it. Fischer added that it remains to be seen whether the emerging market countries in Asia and the world are sufficiently prepared for the potential capital flows and market adjustments so that there are no major macroeconomic consequences.

About 7.2 billion shares changed hands on USA exchanges, compared with the 7.3 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data. A measure of current conditions rose 0.2%.

Spread betting quotes indicate the Dow Jones will open around 35 points higher at 17,524 and the S&P 500 will start five points to the good at 2,055.

"Investors are latching on to the notion that the USA economy is strong enough to sustain a Fed tightening program and that Europe and Japan still have more room for stimulus", said Jack Albin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank.

Global benchmark Brent is down almost 12 percent this month and 24 percent this year, having slumped from as high as $115 in 2014. The dollar edged up to 122.88 yen from 122.86 yen.