NEW YORK, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday as investors were sifting through the latest remarks from U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 87.80 points, or 0.40 percent, to 21,812.09. The S&P 500 lost 8.47 points, or 0.35 percent, to 2,444.04. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 19.07 points, or 0.30 percent, to 6,278.41.
Trump said at a rally in Arizona on Tuesday that he would be willing to let the government shut down without appropriations for a border wall.
He also expressed doubts whether the U.S. can reach a deal to renegotiate the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, adding that the government will "probably" terminate the trade agreement.
Meanwhile, investors also kept an eye on the upcoming meeting between central bank officials later this week.
Federal Reserve officials are expected to be joined by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and the Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Friday at the annual Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, the U.S. state of Wyoming.
Expectations for tighter monetary policy in the U.S. have been dampened recently by soft inflation data. Market expectations for a rate hike in December are just 41 percent, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
On the U.S. economic front, sales of new single-family houses in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 571,000, according to U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday, missing market expectations. The latest reading was also 9.4 percent below the revised June rate of 630,000 and is 8.9 percent below the July 2016 estimate of 627,000.
