Wall Street ends lower as Fed rate hike appears closer

NEW YORK (AA) – Wall Street ended lower Friday as the Federal Reserve inches closer to a rate hike with strong GDP data.

The U.S. economy grew 2.9 percent in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday. The data not only beat expectations of a 2.5 percent increase, but it was also the strongest quarterly gain since the third quarter of 2014.

With the strong showing, the Fed is now closer to increasing its benchmark interest rate at the end of November or December, according to analysts.

A decline in oil prices, however, contributed to losses on Wall Street.

At the final bell, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate traded at $48.76 -- a 2.1 percent decline, while international benchmark Brent crude was at $49.73 -- a 1.5 percent loss.

The Dow ended the day with an eight-point decline to 18,161. The S&P lost six points to close at 2,126 and the Nasdaq fell 25 points to 5,190.

While the Dow remained almost unchanged for the week, the S&P and the Nasdaq lost 0.7 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.