U.S. stocks veered lower Friday morning on the final day of trading for the year. Technology stocks fell the most, while real estate companies and banks eked out small gains. Trading was subdued ahead of the New Year’s Day holiday.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average slid 8 points, or 0.1 percent, to 19,811 as of 11:40 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 4 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,244. The Nasdaq composite gave up 32 points, or 0.6 percent, to 5,399.
BIGGEST LOSER: Chipmaker Nvidia fell $2.84, or 2.6 percent, to $108.59. The stock also had a steep loss on Wednesday but is still by far the biggest gainer for the year in the S&P 500 index, having more than tripled in value.
TALKED OUT: Charter Communications is down 1.9 percent on reports that talks with NBCUniversal are going badly, which could potentially lead to a blackout for Spectrum subscribers. Charter gave up $5.44 to $286.75.
NOT PUMPED: Opko Health slumped 15.8 percent after a trial of a long-acting human growth hormone product produced disappointing results. The stock lost $1.81 to $9.65.
YELLOW CARD: Cabela’s slid 6.5 percent after the sporting goods chain said antitrust regulators have asked it to provide more information about its proposed sale to rival Bass Pro Shops for $4.5 billion. The companies said they still expect to close the deal in the first half of 2017. Cabela’s shares were down $3.92 to $57.76.
SHARP MOVE: Iconix Brand Group rose 3.7 percent after the company said it would sell its Sharper Image brand for $100 million to ThreeSixty Group, the largest Sharper Image licensee. Iconix shares added 33 cents to $9.29.
ATTENTION-GETTER: Mylan rose 82 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $38.20. The drugmaker has begun selling a generic version of Concerta, a treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
LEADING THE PACK: Endo International was up 4 percent, the biggest gainer in the S&P 500. The stock added 62 cents to $16.31. End is the worst-performing stock in the index this year, off by more than 73 percent.
MARKETS OVERSEAS: Global stocks mostly rose on the year’s last day of trading, with Britain’s index rallying to hit another all-time high. The FTSE 100, which was trading for only a half day, rose 0.3 percent. That leaves the index 14.4 percent higher over 2016. Elsewhere in Europe, Germany’s DAX was up 0.3 percent, while France’s CAC 40 was 0.4 percent higher. Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.2 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1 percent.
OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude was down 22 cents to $53.55 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, shed 28 cents to $56.57 a barrel in London.
BONDS AND CURRENCIES: Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.46 percent from 2.48 percent late Thursday. In currency trading, the dollar strengthened to 116.67 yen from 116.65 yen late Thursday. The euro rose to $1.0562 from $1.0485.
