us stocks closed mostly lower wednesday with the sp 500 falling a fifth straight day as investors continued fearing a recession could be triggered by the federal reserves aggressive interest rate hikes as it fights high inflation the dow jones industrial average djia closed about flat while the sp 500 spx fell 02 and the nasdaq composite comp dropped 05 preliminary data from factset show the sp 500 finished with its longest losing streak since october 12 according to dow jones market data of the sp 500s 11 sectors only healthcare consumer staples and real estate finished with gains