Wall Street closes lower as oil prices decline

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) - Wall Street closed lower Wednesday as oil prices declined with rising weekly crude oil inventories in the U.S.

Crude oil stocks in the country increased 2.3 million barrels for the week ending Dec. 16, the U.S.' Energy Information Administration announced earlier Wednesday.

The market expectation was a decline of 2.5 million barrels.

After the unexpected rise in crude inventories, oil prices took a dive.

At the final bell, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was trading at $52.49 a barrel with a 1.5 percent loss. International benchmark Brent crude was at $54.49 per barrel -- a 1.6 percent decline.

The Dow fell 32 points to end the day 19,941 and the S&P lost five points to 2,265. The Nasdaq decreased 12 points to finish the day at 5,471.