U.S. Stocks Finish Choppy Trading Day Slightly Lower But Post Strong Weekly Gains

Add as your preferred news source on Google Add Now After trending higher over the past several sessions, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing slightly lower.The S&P 500 reached a new record intraday high in early trading before closing down 2.11 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 6,929.94. The Dow also edged down 20.19 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 48,710.97, while the Nasdaq slipped 20.21 points or 0.1 percent to 23,593.10.Despite the choppy trading on the day, the major averages all posted strong gains for the week. While the S&P 500 shot up by 1.4 percent, the Dow and the Nasdaq both jumped by 1.2 percent.The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as many traders remained away from their desks following the Christmas Day holiday on Thursday, leading to below average trading activity.Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves following the recent upward trend, which lifted the Dow and S&P 500 to new record closing highs.Looking ahead, overall trading activity may remain somewhat subdued next week due to the New Year's Day holiday on Thursday.Reports on weekly jobless claims and pending home sales may still attract attention along with the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting.Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day.Gold stocks saw significant strength, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index climbing by 1.4 percent to a new record closing high as the price of the precious metal also jumped to new highs.Steel stocks also saw some strength on the day, while airline and telecom stocks showed moderate moves to the downside. In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Friday, with several markets in the region closed for the holidays. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index added 0.7 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index inched up by 0.1 percent.Meanwhile, the major European markets remained closed on the day.In the bond market, treasuries gave back ground after an early upward move, closing roughly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, closed unchanged at 4.136 percent. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.comBusiness News