Wall Street closed lower on Friday amid thin year-end trading, with investors focused on the potential Santa Claus rally. The Nasdaq Composite, the S&P 500, and the Dow ended in negative territory. The week finished on a positive note.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 0.04%, or 20.19 points, to close at 48,710.97. Fifteen components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, and 15 ended in negative territory. The major loser of the Dow was McDonald's Corporation (MCD). The stock price of this franchise's restaurant company fell 0.9%. McDonald's currently carries Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.1%, to close at 23,593.10.
The S&P 500 lost 0.03%, or 2.11 points, to end at 6,929.94. Out of the 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index, seven ended in negative territory, while four were in positive territory. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY), the Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF) and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) fell 0.4%, 0.2% and 0.2%, respectively, while the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) rose 0.6%.
The fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), increased by 1% to 13.60. A total of 10.22 billion shares were traded on Thursday, lower than the last 20-session average of 15.98 billion. The S&P 500 posted 20 new 52-week highs and no new lows, and the Nasdaq Composite recorded 46 new highs and 166 new lows.
Year-End Markets Focus on Santa Claus Rally
The U.S. stock market experienced minimal activity on Friday, with investors repositioning their portfolios ahead of the new year. The Santa Claus rally spans the last trading days of December and the first days of January.
Market participants remained cautious in their defensive stance because they needed to determine how economic indicators, including interest rate projections and economic growth, would affect the market while they monitored geopolitical developments and trade-related volatility, and searched for initial market indicators that would indicate market trends for the next 12 months.
Economic Data
U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) decreased by 1.3 million barrels for the week ended Dec. 12.
Weekly Roundup
During the week, the S&P 500 gained 1.4%, while the Dow and the Nasdaq each rose more than 1%.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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