US stocks close mixed on falling oil prices

New York, June 22 (IANS) US stocks closed mixed as energy stocks declined broadly amid falling oil prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday was down 57.11 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 21,410.03. The S&P 500 lost 1.42 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 2,435.61, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Nasdaq Composite Index added 45.92 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 6,233.95.

Oil prices declined over 2 per cent on Wednesday on rising concerns about global oversupply. The stocks market was under pressure as the energy sector dropped over 1.6 per cent.

On the economic front, total existing home sales climbed 1.1 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.62 million in May from a downwardly revised 5.56 million in April, beating market consensus, according to the National Association of Realtors on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, investors were still digesting the latest Federal Reserve officials' remarks.

Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said on Tuesday the current low-rate environment was likely to remain for some time, adding that low rates handicap the central bank's ability to "offset negative shocks."

Meanwhile, Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said that while the US and other nations have taken actions to strengthen their housing finance systems, more needs to be done to prevent a future crisis, according to CNBC.

The officials' words came in less than a week after the Fed raised its interest rates for the fourth time since December 2015.

Investors are overall skeptical the central bank will raise rates again in September. Market expectations for a September-hike are just 13 percent, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.