U.S. stocks end lower on hawkish Fed talk, oil losses

U.S. stocks on Tuesday finished in negative territory, following more comments from Federal Reserve policy makers that emphasized the central bank's intention to raise interest rates sooner rather than later. A drop in oil prices along with a stronger dollar also weighed on the main equity benchmarks. The S&P 500 index ended down 4 points, or 0.2%, at 2,176. Among the S&P 500's 10 sectors, the only one ending higher was the financial sector, which tends to benefit from heightened prospects of higher interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 49 points, or 0.3%, at 18,454. Shares of banks, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. led the gains, while shares of Boeing Co. topped blue-chip decliners. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 9 points, or 0.2%, to end at 5,223. Among high-profile stock movers, shares of Apple Inc. fell 0.8% after European Union antitrust officials ordered the Irish government to recover as much as 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in taxes from the Cupertino, Calif.-based iPhone maker.

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