Stocks finished lower Wednesday as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated to Congress there could be more rate hikes this year.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) finished down about 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) slumped by 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the way down, falling over 1.2%.

"Nearly all FOMC participants expect that it will be appropriate to raise interest rates somewhat further by the end of the year," Powell told the House Financial Services Committee hearing Wednesday.

The remarks stuck to the script of the Fed's forecast of two more rate hikes this year.

Separately, an unexpected spat flared up after President Joe Biden called China's President Xi Jinping a "dictator" on Wednesday. That's seen as undermining efforts by both sides to rekindle relations between the US and the world's second-biggest economy.

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