US open: Stocks flat in thin volumes ahead of Christmas

US stocks were little changed on Friday amid thin volumes, with many traders already away form their desks for the Christmas break, as the Dow pulled further away from the 20,000 mark.

At 1545 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 19,910.62, the S&P 500 was steady at 2,260.75 and the Nasdaq was unchanged 5,448.90.

Meanwhile, oil prices edged lower as investors booked profits ahead of the holidays, with West Texas Intermediate down 0.3% at $52.79 a barrel and Brent crude 0.2% lower at $54.95.

Banks were in focus after Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse agreed billion-dollar fines with the US Department of Justice to settle claims over mis-sold mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis and as Italy approved a state rescue of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Deutsche Bank will pay a $7.2bn fine, while Credit Suise will fork out $5.3bn. Analysts had been expecting a much bigger fine of about $14bn for Deutsche, but a smaller $2bn fine for CS.

Meanwhile, in London, Barclays ended in the red after the US DoJ filed a lawsuit against the bank and two of its former executives on civil charges of fraud in the sale of mortgage-backed securities.

In US corporate news, Aerie Pharmaceuticals dropped after it said the manufacturing line related to its glaucoma treatment Rhopressa will not be ready in time for inspection by the Food and Drug Administration.

Uniform and office maintenance supply group Cintas Corp fell after its second-quarter earnings late on Thursday missed expectations.

Prestige Brands Holdings rallied after it announced late on Thursday that it will buy privately-held CB Fleet Co for $825m.

On the data front, the latest survey from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the US hit its highest level in the last 12 years in December.

The University of Michigan’s final consumer sentiment index for this month rose to 98.2 from 93.8 in November and the preliminary reading of 98.

The current economic conditions index increased to 111.9 from 107.3 last month and 108.1 in December last year.

The index of consumer expectations edged up to 89.5 from 85.2 in November and 82.7 in December 2015.

Meanwhile, figures from the Commerce Department revealed that sales of new US single-family homes rose more than expected in November.

New home sales were up 5.2% from the previous month’s revised rate of 563,000 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592,000, beating expectations of an increase to 575,000. Compared to the same month a year ago, sales were up 16.5%.

The median price of a new home was $305,400, up from $302,700 in October but down from $317,000 last year.