Major stock market indexes in the United States closed in the red on Wednesday, with the negative trend also apparent in the pending home sales report that recorded a 4% drop in November. Traders also reflected on the Southwest Airlines crisis earlier today describing it as a "meltdown."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.10% or 366 points with Apple falling 3.07%.

The Nasdaq 100 dropped 1.32% or 134 points, with JD.com down by 4.51% and the S&P 500 slid 1.21% as EQT Corp declined by 7.79%.

The euro stood flat against the dollar at 3:57 pm ET to sell for $1.06093.