Wall Street dipped in thin trading on the last day of the decade as a year-end rally powered by optimism around trade and a brightening global outlook fizzled out, though the S&P 500 was still on course for its best year since 2013.
The Dow Jones was on track for its second straight day of declines, shrugging off President Donald Trump’s tweet that a Phase 1 U.S-China trade deal would be signed on Jan. 15 at the White House, and that he would later travel to Beijing to begin negotiations on the next phase.
A relatively loose monetary policy by the Federal Reserve and upbeat economic indicators have lifted the major U.S. stock indexes to all-time highs this month, setting up Wall Street to give up some of its gains.
The three major indexes posted their biggest one-day decline in about four weeks on Monday, in the absence of major updates on trade, and as investors booked profits.
On Tuesday, nine of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were in the red, with technology and healthcare among the top drags.
Schlumberger NV and Halliburton Co were among top percentage decliners on the S&P, tracking lower oil prices.
At 11:11 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 48.20 points, or 0.17%, at 28,413.94, the S&P 500 was down 4.32 points, or 0.13%, at 3,216.97. The Nasdaq Composite was down 2.51 points, or 0.03%, at 8,943.49.
Source : Reuters