NEW YORK: US stocks fell on the last trading day of 2016, eating into gains for the year, following a decline in technology stocks. The S&P 500 technology sector's 0.7 percent fall put the broader index on track for its third straight day of losses - the longest losing streak since Nov. 4.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which came within 13 points of breaching the 20,000 level last week, is now more than 200 points away from the milestone.
"The market is ending 2016 with a whimper. We entered the rally like a lion, but are leaving like a lamb," said Andre Bakhos, managing director of Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.
"It is disappointing on many levels as investors believed that we are going to see the Dow at 20,000. The euphoria that was in motion in the Trump rally has fizzled."
Until Thursday, the three main Wall Street indexes were set to end the year with double-digit percentage gains, but Friday's losses made that unlikely for the S&P and the Nasdaq.
The S&P was on track to rise 9.7 percent, the Nasdaq 7.8 percent and the Dow 13.7 percent for the year.
At 11:13 a.m. ET (1613 GMT), the Dow was down 30.4 points, or 0.15 percent, at 19,789.38.
The S&P 500 was down 5.71 points, or 0.25 percent, at 2,243.55, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 35.85 points, or 0.66 percent, at 5,396.24.
Eight of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were lower, with technology and consumer discretionary stocks taking the biggest hit.
Microsoft and Facebook were off about 1 percent and were the top drags on the S&P.
Nvidia was the top percentage loser on the index, falling 2.5 percent two days after short-seller Citron Research warned about the headwinds the chipmaker is likely to face in 2017.
Mylan rose 2.2 percent to $38.22 after the drugmaker launched generic versions of two drugs. Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,430 to 1,370. On the Nasdaq, 1,728 issues fell and 968 advanced.
The S&P 500 index showed one new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 28 new highs and 30 new lows.
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