US stocks close lower as Fed eyes higher rate hikes

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Major indices in the US stock market closed lower Wednesday as the Federal Reserve eyes higher rate hikes in the coming months.

Fed officials support one or more 50 basis point interest rate increases at future meetings if inflation remains high or keeps climbing, according to minutes that were released.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 144 points, or 0.42%, to close at 34,496.

The S&P 500 fell almost 44 points, or 0.97%, to end at 4,481.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq plummeted 315 points, or 2.22%, to finish at 13,888.

The dollar index rose 0.15% to 99.62.

The VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, was up more than 5% to 22.10. The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes climbed 1.26% to 2.586%.

Precious metals were on the rise, with gold adding 0.12% to $1,925 per ounce and silver rising 0.5% to $24.45.

Crude oil prices plummeted nearly 5% for the day.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at $101.74, down 4.6%, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $96.94 with more than a 4.9% loss.

Bitcoin, the world's largest crypto by market value, fell 4.6% to $43,850 around 4.30 p.m. EDT. Ethereum, the world's biggest altcoin, plummeted 7.1% to $3,212. Some altcoins lost as much as 15%.

The total value of the cryptocurrency market was down 5.6% to $2.01 trillion.