Wall Street closes with losses after Fed comment

NEW YORK (AA) - Wall Street closed with losses Friday after hawkish comments from an official of the Federal Reserve.

The Fed may need to raise its interest rate more than three times in 2017, Fed Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said Friday in Charlotte.

Although the central bank announced Wednesday it now expects to increase rates three times next year, from the previous projection of two rate hikes, Lacker said "My guess would be more than three."

After Lacker's comments, investors’ worries over multiple rate hikes resurfaced as they took a selling position in the stock market.

The Dow fell eight points to finish the day at 19,843 and the S&P lost three points to 2,258. The Nasdaq decreased 19 points to end the day at 5,437.

This week, however, the Dow gained 0.4 percent, while the S&P and the Nasdaq each lost 0.1 percent.