New York, Dec 31, 2015 (AFP) – US stocks opened lower Thursday as the broad-based S&P 500 tried to eke out a gain for 2015 in the final trading session of the year.
Five minutes into trade, the S&P 500 stood at 2,052.35, down 11.01 points (0.53 percent) and about five points below its closing price of 2014.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 107.72 (0.61 percent) to 17,496.15, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 24.51 (0.48 percent) at 5,041.33.
Analysts described trading volume as light and said investors were fixated on sinking oil prices as well as an increase in jobless claims to a nearly six-month high.
“One must not forget … that the market was coming off three consecutive years of double-digit returns,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare. “So a flat year on the heels of that strong move isn’t really all that bad.”
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