Stock indexes closed with slight losses Wednesday, a day after they took one of their worst falls this year. The market began to fade after 2 p.m., when the Federal Reserve repeated its assessment that the U.S. economy still needed help to increase growth and lower unemployment.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 25.19 points, or 0.2 percent, to 13,077.34.
The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 4.36 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,408.75.
The Nasdaq composite index lost 8.76 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,981.70.
For the week:
The Dow is down 266.17 points, or 2 percent.
The S&P 500 is down 24.44 points, or 1.7 percent.
The Nasdaq is down 23.92 points, or 0.8 percent.
For the year:
The Dow is up 859.78 points, or 7 percent.
The S&P 500 is up 151.15 points, or 12 percent.
The Nasdaq is up 376.55 points, or 14.5 percent.
