U.S. stocks edge lower, pulling S&P 500 into red for the year

The S&P 500 Index ended 2015 down 0.7% for the year, better than the 7% decline the benchmark index hovered at in September as a result of the summer’s market volatility, but far short of the 11% gain for 2014.

Kinder Morgan Inc. has tumbled 38 percent this month, more than half of its year-to-date losses. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fared better, delivering a gain for the year. “A very unrewarding year”.

Wall Street appears to be settling in for another ho-hum day in what has been a volatile up-and-down year for stocks but which has added up to the stock market finishing the year pretty much where it started the year.

The Dow ended the day down 178.84 points, or 1 percent, to 17,425.03.

The Russell 2000 and Dow transports also had their worst year since 2008.

The index was up 0.2% for the year as of Wednesday’s close, but this session’s drop tipped it back into negative territory for 2015.

The mere thought of higher borrowing costs kept a lid on risk-taking, as many stock investors cited the Fed’s easy-money policies as a key driver of the stock market’s almost seven-year old bull run that began in March 2009.

GAINERS & LOSERS: DTE Energy declined the most among companies in the S&P 500, shedding $1.44, or 1.8 percent, to $80.10. The plunge in energy prices has rattled both stock and bond markets.

A Wall Street street sign stands outside the New York Stock Exchange. The markets recouped most of their lost ground within a few weeks.

Shares have shed about a fifth of their value since touching a high of $134.54 on April 28, and are down 17.5 percent since the inclusion of the stock in the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI in March. The energy sector fell 24 percent, its worst annual performance since the global recession.

ENERGY: Crude oil and natural gas prices rose, recovering some of their losses from the day before.

Dogged by weak commodity prices, the FTSE 100 underperformed the rest of Europe with a 4.5% loss on the year.

The Nasdaq, the lone bright spot in 2015 with a 7% gain, was down 0.5%. Shares were mixed in Asia, with the Nikkei 225 in Japan closing up 0.3% and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong up 0.2%.

Gold futures for February delivery settled up 40 cents at $1,060.20 an ounce.

Treasury yields held lower, with the 2-year yield (U.S.:US2Y) around 1.06 percent and the 10-year yield (U.S.:US10Y) near 2.27 percent in the close.