US benchmark equity indexes closed lower on Wednesday, after certain Republicans from the House of Representatives engaged with the White House on concerns related to the proposed tax-cut bill.

The Nasdaq was down 1.4% to 18,872.64, while the S&P 500 decreased 1.6% to 5,844.61. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.9% to 41,860.44. Communications was the only sector in the black while real estate had the steepest decline.

US Treasury yields were higher, with the 10-year rate increasing 9.4 basis points to 4.59% and the two-year rate rising 3.8 basis points to 4.02%.

July West Texas Intermediate crude oil decreased 1.1% to $61.34 a barrel on Wednesday.

Certain House of Representatives Republicans were headed to the White House amid concerns that the bill doesn't adequately lower spending, according to media reports. House Speaker Mike Johnson will join a meeting scheduled for 3 pm, the reports added, citing the White House.

"There is a chance for a vote today," Johnson reportedly said

In economic news, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said late Tuesday that the White House tax bill complicates the forecast and the Fed will face a tough decision if inflation rises while unemployment also grows.

"The best action we can take is to sit on our hands and really carefully go through the data, engage with our communities, hear what they are thinking about, hear about the choices that they are making," Hammack said.

In company news, Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) class A and C shares were up 2.9%, the top gainer on the S&P 500. Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said at a developers conference Tuesday that the search engine is rolling out an "AI Mode" that answers queries in a chatbot-style conversation.

CME Group (CME) shares were up 1.4%. The company held discussions with Hong Kong authorities to include the city in its physical delivery network for aluminum contracts, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

AES (AES) shares were down 9.9%. The company said it has signed two long-term power purchase agreements with Meta (META) to deliver 650 megawatts of solar capacity to support Meta's data centers in Texas and Kansas.

Wolfspeed (WOLF) shares tumbled 59%. The company is preparing to file for bankruptcy in the coming weeks after rejecting creditor-led proposals to restructure its debt, which totals $6.5 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Gold increased 1.1% to $3,322.10 per troy ounce, while silver was up 1.2% to $33.59 per troy ounce.