U.S. Stocks Tick Lower Ahead of Christmas Holiday
December 24 2019 - 10:45AM
Dow Jones News
By Anna Hirtenstein
U.S. stocks drifted lower Tuesday in a quiet session of trading
ahead of the Christmas holiday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 28 points, or 0.1%, to
28523 in early morning trading, while the S&P 500 fell less
than 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite also declined, shedding 0.1%.
Shares of health-care and industrial companies notched minor
losses, pulling stock indexes lower.
Analysts said trading volumes were thin, as some investors
appeared to be taking a break from the market's massive 2019 rally
ahead of the Christmas holiday. Markets are open half a day on
Christmas Eve and closed for all of Christmas.
"It's very thin volumes at this time of year, markets move on
very small amounts of share trading," said Gerry White, chief
investment commentator at Charles Stanley. "General tones for next
year are that things are looking a little brighter."
With just two weeks of the year left, stocks are poised to close
out their best year since 2013. The S&P 500 has jumped nearly
29% this year, as everything from shares of tech companies to banks
to utilities all notched significant gains.
It is a starkly different market environment from a year
earlier. Last Christmas Eve, the Dow industrials tumbled more than
650 points and the S&P 500 shed nearly 3%, leaving the broad
index short of entering a bear market.
Most of the issues that haunted investors last year have
improved significantly, giving the long-running bull rally a
crucial source of support to continue through its 10th year.
Trade tensions have cleared up as the U.S. and China work toward
signing an pact next month. Worries of a recession have receded for
now and most analysts agree the U.S. economy will continue to grow
in 2020. And the Federal Reserve gave a significant boost to the
market and investor sentiment after cutting interest rates three
times this year.
Stocks notched small gains elsewhere.
In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both
edged up 0.1%.
The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.7%. Korea's Kospi index
slipped 0.6%, falling for the second day as traders booked profits
at the year-end.
--Michael Wursthorn contributed to this article.
Write to Anna Hirtenstein at anna.hirtenstein@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 24, 2019 10:30 ET (15:30 GMT)
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