Roundup: U.S. stocks end mixed on Christmas eve

U.S. stocks closed narrowly mixed with thin volumes on Thursday, a shortened trading day for Christmas eve, as Wall Street assessed a continued recovery in oil prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 50.44 points, or 0.29 percent, to 17,552.17. The S&P 500 lost 3.30 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,060.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 2.56 points, or 0.05 percent, to 5,048.49.

Oil prices continued to rise on Thursday after an unexpected fall in U.S. inventories, but still trading near multi-year lows.

As it will take years to wash out the whole supply in oil market and reach the balance point where supply meets demand, many analysts do not expect oil prices will recovery soon.

On the economic front, in the week ending Dec. 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 267,000, a decreased of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level and slightly below the marker expectations, according to the U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

The 4-week moving average was 272,500, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week's revised average.

The U.S. stock markets were closed early Thursday, and will be shut on Friday for Christmas Day.

Overseas, Chinese shares extended losses Thursday as blue chips retreated on profit taking, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index going down 0.65 percent to close at 3,612.49 points.

For the holiday-shortened week, all three major indices posted solid gains, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq jumping 2.5 percent, 2.8 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, rose 1.09 percent to end at 15.74 Thursday.

In other markets, oil prices continued to rise Thursday as U.S. crude stockpiles decreased.

The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery moved up 60 cents to settle at 38.1 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for February delivery increased 53 cents to close at 37.89 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The U.S. dollar edged down against most major currencies Thursday on investors' profit-taking.

In late New York trading, the euro moved up to 1.0966 dollars from 1.0908 dollars in the previous session. The dollar bought 120.32 Japanese yen, lower than 120.85 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose on Thursday as the U.S. dollar showed weakness during the low-volume holiday trading.

The most active gold contract for February delivery added 7.6 dollars, or 0.71 percent, to settle at 1,075.90 dollars per ounce. Endit