NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, but closed out a third straight year of double-digit gains for the S&P 500, as crude oil prices continued their descent.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 159.81 points, or 0.89 percent, to 17,823.26, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 21.46 points, or 1.03 percent, to 2,058.89 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 41.39 points, or 0.87 percent, to 4,736.05.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
