NEW YORK, June 12 (Xinhua) -- US equities sank on Wednesday, pressured by the losses in tech and banks shares.

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (File photo: AFP)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 43.68 points, or 0.17 percent, to 26,004.83. The S&P 500 was down 5.88 points, or 0.20 percent, to 2,879.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 29.85 points, or 0.38 percent, to 7,792.72.

Shares of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase slid 2.32 percent and 1.27 percent, respectively, among the worst performers in the Dow. The S&P 500 financials sector declined 0.95 percent.

Major chip stocks underperformed, weighing on the tech sector. Shares of Lam Research Corporation slumped 5.29 percent, while Qualcomm dropped 2.32 percent. VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH), which tracks the overall performances of major US exchange-listed companies in the semiconductor industry, closed down 2.17 percent.

On the economic front, the US consumer price index for all urban consumers increased 0.1 percent in May on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.3 percent in April, the Department of Labor reported.

The closely-watched core inflation that strips out food and energy also advanced a scant 0.1 percent last month.

The muted inflation data came as investors increasingly speculate on interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

Market expectations for lower rates by July were at 85.3 percent on Wednesday, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.