Wall Street ends lower as 'cliff' talks sour

Dow Jones down 0.74%, Standard & Poor's 500 Index down 0.76%

US stocks fell on Wednesday as Washington talks to avert a year-end fiscal crisis turned sour, but the market's modest loss shows that investors still expect a deal.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 99.22 points, or 0.74%, at 13,251.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 10.99 points, or 0.76%, at 1,435.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 10.17 points, or 0.33%, at 3,044.36.