NEW YORK: US stocks on Friday closed the final session of the year solidly in the red as investors appeared to pause ahead of the extended New Year's holiday weekend.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 12,217.56, down 69.48 points (0.57 percent).
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite fell 8.59 points (0.33 percent) to 2,605.15, while the S&P 500, a broad measure of the markets, lost 5.42 points (0.43 percent) to 1,257.60.
The blue-chip Dow was the only main US index to finish the year in positive territory, adding 5.52 percent since 2010.
The Nasdaq was the worst performer, shedding 1.80 percent.
The S&P 500, which finished the year virtually unchanged, offered evidence of resiliency in the US markets despite Europe's debt woes.
"Although investors may not have scored the absolute return that they wanted, the stock market still exhibited relative strength while most of the world's other major equity averages suffered double-digit percentage declines in 2011," Briefing.com analysts said.
There was little direction in trading Friday, with no major economic reports on the calendar and scant corporate news.
Financial markets will be closed Monday in observance of the New Year holiday.
Ford shares rose 0.8 percent to $10.76 after announcing vehicle sales in the United States topped two million this week, for the first time since 2007.
AMR, parent of American Airlines, plunged 32.7 percent to 35 cents. The New York Stock Exchange notified the group, which filed for bankruptcy protection in November, that its stock will be delisted by January 5.
Verizon Communications, co-parent of Verizon Wireless, edged up 0.2 percent. Verizon Wireless withdrew its new $2 "convenience fee" on certain one-time bill payments after its announcement Thursday sparked a customer backlash.
Bond prices rose in an abbreviated session. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.87 percent from 1.90 percent on Thursday, while the 30-year yield slipped to 2.89 percent from 2.90 percent.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.