USA stocks continued to fall after volatile session on Thursday, the last trading day of 2015, as investors digested the worse-than-expected initial jobless claims. The S&P 500, which fell 0.9% to 2043.94, was up for the year as of Wednesday’s close, but Thursday’s losses pushed it into negative territory for 2015. Utilities stocks were among the biggest decliners.
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The Dow Jones industrial average fell 99 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,504 as of 10:12 a.m. Eastern time.
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But the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index proved a bright spot, ending 2015 with a gain of 5.7% despite dropping 1.2% to 5,007.41 in the last day of trade. Markets in Japan and South Korea were closed for the New Year holiday.
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The consumer discretionary sector has been the best performer on the S&P, rising 8.89 per cent in 2015, led by Netflix’s 137 per cent increase and Amazon’s 120 per cent gain. Energy and materials stocks, which have been battered recently as commodities prices sank, fared slightly better than the rest of the market.
Yet many investors’ low expectations could be fertile ground for a stock-market rally should surprisingly positive news such as much stronger economic growth or a rebound in oil prices materialize, said Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones. Even after a 4.6 percent surge last week, the group’s 10 percent December rout will cap its worst year since 2008.
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Software and computer hardware stocks also came under pressure, dragging both the Dow Jones Software Index and the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index down by 1.3 percent. “A very unrewarding year”.
Crude oil prices were set for their second year of steep losses suffering under an unprecedented global glut that may take another year to clear. Brent crude, used to price worldwide oils, gained $1.38, or 3.8 percent, to $37.84 a barrel in London. Natural gas slumped 15.6 cents to $2.214 per 1,000 cubic feet.
GAINERS & LOSERS: DTE Energy declined the most among companies in the S&P 500, shedding $1.44, or 1.8 percent, to $80.10.
OIL PLAY: NuStar Energy gained 5.7 percent on news that the energy company will be part of the first USA crude export in 40 years, following a move to lift a ban on exporting US oil. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dropped by 0.9 percent.
“As we close out of the year, it’s been a tale of two tapes, with narrow leadership holding up the major indices, while the vast majority of the market continues to underperform”, said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital in NY.
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The blue-chip Dow dropped 1.0 percent in the session to 17,425.03, taking its annual loss to 2.2 percent. The dollar index .DXY rose marginally against a basket of currencies.
