NEW YORK, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 303.77 points, or 0.63 percent, to 48,063.29. The S&P 500 sank 50.74 points, or 0.74 percent, to 6,845.5. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 177.089 points, or 0.76 percent, to 23,241.991.

All the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with real estate and materials leading the laggards by dropping 1 percent and 0.88 percent, respectively. Communication services posted the lowest decline, down 0.4 percent.