US stocks edge lower; S&P 500 goes red for the year

The Nasdaq ended with a gain of 5.7 percent. If it holds on to a full-year gain, it will mark the fourth straight year of gains.

‘Apple is caught between being a growth stock and being a value stock and it’s caught in the abyss, ‘ said John Augustine, chief investment officer at Huntington Wealth Investment Management. “You can’t get more blasé than this”. The sector is down 23.8 percent for the year.

US stocks closed lower on Thursday, capping the worst year for the market since 2008. The year’s last day featured seesaw moves as energy producers in the benchmark index advanced with oil after erasing an early drop, though the group capped its biggest annual retreat in seven years. Other than that the tone has been set by very limited overseas action.

“That’s not great, but with money market returns close to zero, 5 percent looks pretty good”, Welty said.

“2015 was a year where revenues were evasive and investors were attracted to companies that were able to grow their top line”, Ablin said.

Trading volumes were thin on the last day of the year.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.27 to close at $36.60 a barrel in NY.

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. Germany’s main stock market, which was closed Thursday for the holiday, ended the year with a 9.6 percent gain. Weakness in the world’s second- largest economy has weighed on commodity prices, dragging down energy and raw-material shares and putting a blight on US corporate profits.

– US crude oil futures declined 30%.

In commodities, oil led the fall but was not alone in the southbound journey.

Also on Thursday, Iran President Hassan Rouhani ordered his defense minister to expand Iran’s missile program, in response to a USA threat to impose sanctions over a ballistic missile test Iran carried out in October. Four years ago the index had an even more meager return of 2.1 percent.

Welty believes the stock market in 2016 will rise 5 percent or a bit more. Meanwhile the Chicago Purchasing Manager’s Index, a barometer of business activity, plunged to its lowest level since July 2009 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chicago-pmi-plummets-to-429-lowest-since-2009-2015-12-31) at 42.9 in December from 48.7 in November.

“This really undermines those expectations for the new year to be that year of improvement”, said Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Stifel.

Despite the increase, applications for jobless aid remain near historic lows.

It is a normal trading day in NY after stocks fell yesterday on the back of falling oil prices.

In currencies, the euro was down 0.4% against the dollar at $1.0894, while the dollar was slightly weaker against the yen at Yen120.4180.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 178.84 points, or 1.02 percent, to 17,425.03. The S&P 500 index SPX, -0.72% closed down 15 points, or 0.7%, to 2,603.36.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) (^VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded near 18.

Traders are now watching for official inventories data from the Energy Information Administration that’s expected at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. On that day, the stake was worth $US5.82 billion. Gold rose $40 cents to $1,060.20 an ounce, silver fell 4 cents to $13.80 an ounce and copper slid 1 cent to $2.14 a pound.