US stocks lower at start of last session of rocky 2020

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks dipped early Thursday in the final session of a turbulent -- but ultimately winning -- year for US equity markets during the coronavirus pandemic.

Investors weighed fresh US tariffs on French and German products linked to a trade dispute between Airbus and Boeing, as well as worries over the slow US rollout of Covid-19 vaccines.

Despite plunging in March as governments imposed sudden lockdowns in response to the virus, major US indices are closing 2020 with significant gains for the year following aggressive measures from the Federal Reserve and as regulators have approved vaccines to counter the deadly disease.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 30,379.90, down 0.1 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.1 percent to 3,729.01, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.2 percent at 12,842.30.

The US tariffs will hit "aircraft manufacturing parts from France and Germany, certain non-sparkling wine from France and Germany, and certain cognac and other grape brandies from France and Germany," which will be added to the list of products taxed since 2019, according to a statement from the US Trade Representative.

Meanwhile, health officials acknowledged that just 2.6 million vaccine doses had been administered so far in the United States, raising questions about some 10 million doses that had been distributed but not used.

All three major indices will finish the year with significant increases. Nasdaq's gains have been especially impressive and the index currently stands more than 40 percent above its 2019 closing price.