Wall Street closes lower after Fed Reserve decision

NEW YORK (AA) – Wall Street closed lower Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said it would not raise a key interest rate.

The Dow Jones fell 34 points to end the day at 17,640. The S&P 500 was down 3 points to close at 2,071, while the Nasdaq lost 8 points to end at 4,834.

The Fed said "only gradual increases" in the interest rate would appear if domestic economic conditions improve.

The markets now look to the Fed's next meeting in July when a rate hike could happen.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices continued to decline Wednesday, which added to the losses in the stock market.

At the final bell, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell to $47.51 a barrel on a 2 percent decline, while international benchmark Brent crude decreased 2.4 percent to $48.63.