New York, July 29 (Petra) -- Major U.S. stock indexes fell sharply on Wednesday despite the Federal Reserve's decision to leave interest rates unchanged.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,152 points, or 2.18%, to close at 51,594.\ The Nasdaq Composite dropped 433 points, or 1.74%, to 24,442, while the S&P 500 lost about 112 points, or 1.51%, to end at 7,316.

Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil rose more than $5 to reach $84.94 a barrel.

//Petra// AF