US stock indices closed the second session of the week mostly lower, as tech gains were outweighed by heavy losses in the energy sector after oil prices tumbled by seven to eight percent on global demand concerns.
Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard delivered a speech titled "Artificial Intelligence and the New Financial Landscape" at the Fintech conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, earlier today, as markets await a more crucial speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday, hosted by the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank.
The Federal Reserve voted at the November 7-8 meeting to maintain interest rates at below 2.25% as expected by market analysts, while vowing to carry on the path of policy tightening.
Indices, Commodities
Dow Jones fell 0.40%, or 100.69 points to 25,286.49, while Standard and Poor's 500 shed 0.15%, or 4.04 points to 2,722.18. NASDAQ Composite closed flat at 7,200.88.
Gold futures due in December inched down 0.07% to $1,202.70 an ounce to October 11 lows, while the dollar index declined 0.36% to 97.19 away from early 2017 highs.
US crude futures due in December slumped 7.89% to $55.20 a barrel, marking November, 2017 lows, while Brent January futures plunged 7.03% to $65.19 a barrel, marking March 15 lows.