Stocks Close Mixed Following Lackluster Trading Session

A fresh rout in oil prices (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-under-fresh-pressure-as-china-continues-to-spook-the-market-2016-01-11)pulled energy-related stocks lower, with the energy sector leading the S&P losses, down 2% on the day and 8.8% since the beginning of the year.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.3 per cent, after trading up as much as 0.8 per cent and down as much as 0.4 per cent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 6.5 points, about 0.3 percent, to 1,928.2. Seoul’s Kospi shed 0.6 percent to 1,905.83 and Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 was off 2 percent to 4,890.70. The index fell 1.3% intraday to 1,032, tumbling 20% below its all-time high, set on June 23, 2015-a move which meets the widely used definition for a bear market.

US stocks rose in early trading Monday, as European stock markets held up despite another big fall in China’s benchmark index and ongoing worries over the outlook for the world’s second-largest economy.

Wall Street will also be watching the start of the fourth-quarter earnings reporting season, which unofficially kicks off after today’s closing bell with a report from aluminum maker Alcoa.

Among the most active stocks in Shanghai were Meiyan Jixiang, down 10.1 percent to 6.53 yuan; Shanxi Coal, up 10.1 percent to 5.12 yuan and Agricultural Bank of China, down 1.9 percent to 3.10 yuan.

IL biotech firm Baxalta was up 0.3 percent at $40.13 after it agreed to be acquired by Dublin-based pharmaceutical group Shire in $32 billion cash-and-stock deal, aimed at forming a global biotech giant targeting rare diseases.

Arch’s share price closed at 82 cents last Friday. Baxalta shares fell 2.3%.

Shares of Tesla Inc.

China has been the other big story of the year so far and a major dampener on markets. (JPM), Wells Fargo & Co.

About 9.1 billion shares changed hands on US exchanges, compared with the 7.3 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.