Wall Street closes lower after hawkish Fed remarks

NEW YORK (AA) – Wall Street closed Monday with losses after an Federal Reserve official made hawkish comments suggesting a rate hike could come in November.

The Dow Jones was down 54 points to finish the first trading day of October at 18,143. The S&P lost seven points to close at 2,161. The Nasdaq lost 11 points to end at 5,300.

Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, who has a voting right on the Federal Open Market Committee this year, told Bloomberg Television Monday that the bank could raise its benchmark interest rate Nov. 2, just six days before the U.S. presidential elections.

"Politics do not come into our decisions," she said, adding that "the Fed should be looking ahead and not just waiting."

The market and investors anticipate a December rate hike as more likely. However, with Mester's hawkish statements, a sell-off on the market resulted in Wall Street finishing the day with losses.