US close: Dow 20,000 slips further from reach
The Dow 20,000 baseball caps remained under wraps on Wednesday, with US stocks recoiling further from the psychological level as oil prices slipped amid wrapping-paper thin volumes and news flow in the run-up to Christmas.
By the jingle of the closing bell, the Dow Jones had given up almost 33 points or 0.16% to finish at 19,941.96, while the S&P 500 shaved close to six points to 2,265.18 and the Nasdaq composite dropping 12.5 points to 5,471.43.
The dollar was down against the euro and yen but up slightly on the pound, while crude prices gave up up most of their gains from earlier in the week after the Energy Information Administration revealed crude inventories rose unexpectedly last week by 2.3m barrels to 485.4m barrels. Analysts had expected a drawdown of 2.5m barrels.
West Texas Intermediate lost 1.4% to $52.54 and Brent crude fell 1.5% to $54.53 a barrel.
"With the OPEC meeting out of the way, the focus remains firmly on what American oil producers will do, and for the moment they are doing the logical thing – increasing production to take advantage of higher prices," said analyst Chris Beauchamp at IG.
"Should this continue, it will mean more pain for OPEC and a need for further output cuts."
The only other major economic data was that existing home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.7% to 5.61m in November, the strongest monthly reading since February 2007. This was ahead of the 5.54m predicted by analysts.
Weekly mortgage applications also rose 2.5% after a fall the week before.
Yields on US government bonds slipped as prices inched higher, with the benchmark 10-year T-bill drifting to 2.544% from 2.566% the day before.
Earlier, European stocks retreated as the bank sector endured a further coshing across the continent.
The fate of the world's oldest lender, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, continued to hang in the balance though parliament approved a request for bail-out cash.
Across the Mediterranean, Spanish lenders dropped after the European Court of Justice ordered the country's banks to repay billions of euros to mortgage customers.
IG's Beauchamp added: "2016 saw plenty of concerns about European banks, but while it made sense for everyone to buy Deutsche shares at €10, it will be harder to find investors willing to take stakes in southern European firms."
In corporate news, Coca-Cola bubbled moderately higher after agreeing to buy a 54.5% stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa from Belgian brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev for $3.15bn.
After the Swiss regulator COMCO fined a raft of banks for rate rigging, shares dipped in JP Morgan Chase and Citi Group before bouncing back later.
Health care sector led the fallers, with cancer drug maker Celgene and Merck skidding lower.
FedEx was weaker after its second-quarter earnings late on Tuesday missed expectations, with revenue just a touch ahead.
Nike stepped up after its second-quarter earnings late on Tuesday beat analysts’ expectations.
Dow Jones - Risers
Nike Inc. (NKE) $52.30 0.98%
Boeing Co. (BA) $157.48 0.70%
American Express Co. (AXP) $75.32 0.35%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $75.47 0.27%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $86.75 0.25%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $122.51 0.11%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $105.56 0.09%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $117.06 0.09%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $63.54 -0.00%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $117.94 -0.03%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $59.43 -1.77%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $32.40 -1.37%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $71.24 -0.81%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $241.44 -0.68%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $36.98 -0.62%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $93.82 -0.55%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $30.42 -0.46%
General Electric Co. (GE) $32.13 -0.37%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $84.28 -0.34%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $115.31 -0.30%
S&P 500 - Risers
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $10.98 5.78%
Owens-Illinois Inc. (OI) $18.52 4.22%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $45.37 4.20%
Centene Corp. (CNC) $58.51 3.14%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $54.96 3.06%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $34.21 2.92%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $22.44 2.84%
Equifax Inc. (EFX) $118.75 2.21%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $28.78 2.20%
EQT Corp. (EQT) $67.06 2.15%
S&P 500 - Fallers
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $46.28 -5.14%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $72.60 -5.02%
Accenture Plc (ACN) $117.90 -5.00%
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $3.29 -4.64%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $33.20 -3.68%
FedEx Corp. (FDX) $192.15 -3.33%
General Growth Properties Inc. (GGP) $25.38 -2.68%
Simon Property Group Inc. (SPG) $178.35 -2.63%
Sl Green Realty Corp. (SLG) $107.61 -2.44%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $115.85 -2.25%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $45.37 4.20%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $223.12 2.87%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $59.58 2.11%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $118.99 1.94%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $35.25 1.79%
Liberty Global Plc Lilac Class A (LILA) $22.30 1.59%
Liberty Interactive Corporation - Series A Liberty Ventures (LVNTA) $38.10 1.46%
Liberty Global Plc Lilac Class C (LILAK) $21.52 1.46%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $25.88 1.41%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $44.87 1.24%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $46.28 -5.14%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $72.60 -5.02%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $99.76 -2.40%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $115.85 -2.25%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $114.86 -1.90%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $365.06 -1.61%
CA Inc. (CA) $32.43 -1.37%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $28.52 -1.31%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $84.06 -1.21%
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $67.87 -1.21%