Dow Ends Day Down 119

Stocks are closing lower Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signaled that faster interest rate hikes are on the way, the AP reports. AT&T fell 6.2% and Time Warner gained 1.8% after a judge cleared the way for AT&T's $85 billion takeover of Time Warner. Other media, telecommunications and healthcare companies with pending deals also benefited: Twenty-First Century Fox rose 7.7% and Express Scripts rose 3.3%. The Federal Reserve raised its key short-term interest rate and said it expects to raise rates two more times by the end of the year. The S&P 500 index slid 11 points, or 0.4%, to 2,775. The Dow Jones industrials fell 119 points, or 0.5%, to 25,201. The Nasdaq composite lost 8 points, or 0.1%, to 7,695. (More stock market stories.)