Wall Street closes lower as rate hike fears return

NEW YORK (AA) - Wall Street closed lower Wednesday as fears over multiple rate hikes by the Federal Reserve this year returned to investors' agenda, causing them to take sell-off positions.

Fed Vice President Stanley Fischer hinted Tuesday before market opening that the bank could raise the benchmark interest rate more than once this year.

"I don’t think you can say one and done," Fischer told Bloomberg Television when asked how many times the Fed would increase rates by year’s end.

The stock market opened flat in the morning as Fischer's hawkish comments were offset by a rise in oil prices.

However, his views pushed the value of the U.S. dollar up during the day, which put a downward pressure on oil prices, and sending price of crude to negative territory.

The Dow Jones lost 48 points to end the day at 18,454 and the S&P 500 was down four points to 2,176. The Nasdaq decreased nine points to finish the day at 5,223.

At the final bell, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate traded at $46.41 a barrel with a 1.2 percent decline, and international benchmark Brent crude was down to $48.82 -- down 1.3 percent.

The crude market will closely watch the U.S.' weekly crude oil and gasoline inventories on Wednesday, while investors are focused on Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren's remarks to see where the official stands at the bank's rate hike decision.