Wall Street closes lower after Fed rate hike

NEW YORK (AA) - Wall Street closed lower Wednesday after the Federal Reserve increased its benchmark interest rate.

The Dow lost 118 points to end the day at 19,792, snapping its seven-day rising streak. The S&P decreased 18 points to 2,253 and the Nasdaq fell 27 points to 5,436.

The Fed increased its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percent, marking its first rate hike since last December and only the second in a decade.

The central bank also noted that it now expects to increase rates three times in 2017, from the previous projection of two rate hikes.

After the decision, value of the American dollar increased against other currencies and crude oil prices, which are indexed to the greenback, decreased.

At the final bell, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was trading at $50.90 a barrel -- a 4 percent decline. International benchmark Brent crude was down nearly 3.5 percent to $53.80 per barrel.