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U.S. stocks keep falling on last trading day of 2016

Xinhua, December 31, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks declined for a third straight day Friday, the last trading day of 2016, as investors looked ahead to the start of 2017.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 57.18 points, or 0.29 percent, to 19,762.60. The S&P 500 lost 10.43 points, or 0.46 percent, to 2,238.83. The Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 48.97 points, or 0.90 percent, to 5,383.12.

Trading volume was thin Friday as investors had little news to digest ahead of the New Year holiday. U.S. stock markets will be closed Monday for the holiday.

After the Dow Jones Industrial Average drifted away from the 20,000 mark earlier this week, analysts said the Santa rally, which usually runs from Dec. 24, 2016 to Jan. 4, has run out of steam.

For the holiday-shortened week, the blue-chip Dow decreased 0.9 percent, and the broader S&P 500 dropped 1.1 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 1.5 percent.

For 2016, all three major indices witnessed solid gains, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq surging 13.4 percent, 9.5 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively.

Overseas, European equities closed higher on the last trading day of the year. German benchmark DAX index at Frankfurt Stock Exchange rose 0.26 percent, while British benchmark FTSE 100 Index added 0.32 percent.

In Asia, Tokyo' s 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dipped 0.16 percent to 19,114.37 points as investors locked in gains at end of the year. Endit