• Wall Street quiet on last trading day of a strong year
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 118.29 points, or 0.48 percent, on Friday to close at 24,719.22, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 13.93 points, or 0.52 percent, to2,673.61 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 46.77 points, or 0.67 percent, to 6,903.39.
There were no fireworks on Wall Street for the last trading day of the year, as U.S. stocks closed out their best year since 2013 on a down note, with losses in technology and financial stocks keeping equities in negative territory for the session.
• Wall Street starts year on strong note; Nasdaq ends above 7,000
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 104.79 points, or 0.42 percent, to 24,824.01, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 22.18 points, or 0.83 percent, to 2,695.79 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 103.51 points, or 1.5 percent, to 7,006.90.
U.S. stocks rose in the first session of the new year and the Nasdaq closed above 7,000 for the first time on Tuesday as investors were optimistic that 2018 will bring more gains for the market.
“Our best guess is the first quarter or half of the year can be OK as a continuation of last year,” said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago.
• Asia shares eye all-time top on global growth cheer
Investors also piled into emerging market trades. MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS edged up another 0.1 percent, having jumped 1.4 percent on Tuesday in its best performance since last March.
The index is creeping ever closer to the all-time peak of 591.50 reached in late 2007. South Korean stocks .KS11 were up for the fourth session running, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 remained closed for holidays.
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Japanese markets are closed on Wednesday for an exchange holiday.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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