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Stocks Close Narrowly Mixed in Thin Trading
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CNBC.com Writer
Stocks finished flat in a thin, lackluster session Tuesday as investors took a breather following a strong rally in the previous week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 2.65 points, or 0.02 percent, to end at 12,291.35, after trading slightly higher for most of the session. BofA [BAC
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] led the blue-chip laggards.
The S&P 500 eked out a gain of 0.10 points, or 0.01 percent, to end at 1,265.43, logging its first five-day winning streak since mid-September. The Nasdaq gained 6.56 points, or 0.25 percent, to close at 2,625.20. The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, finished near 22.
Among key S&P sectors, financials declined, while utilities gained.
“It’s a very light calendar [this week]…It’s still all about Europe and even in Europe it’s about Italy, so keep your eye on the euro and you can pretty much tell where everything else is going,” said Art Cashin, director of floor operations at UBS Financial Services. “[European worries will] certainly continue into the first half [of 2012]…They haven’t solved anything.”
Investors have been hoping for a Santa Claus rally as the S&P remains slightly in positive territory for 2011.
On the economic front, home prices declined in most major cities for the second straight month in October according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index.
Meanwhile, consumer confidence gained in December to 64.5 from a downwardly revised 55.2 in November, according to the Conference Board. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a reading of 58.3.
Investors will also be focusing on retail sales, as a day off on Monday sent many Americans out, with shops relying on bargains to lure shoppers. Large clothing chains such as Gap [GPS
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] finished higher.
However, Sears Holdings [SHLD
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] plunged more than 25 percent after the retailer announced it would close down 100 to 120 Kmart and Sears stores due to a combination of lower sales, continued margin pressure and increased expenses.
Mead Johnson [MJN
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MetLife [MET
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] gained after the life insurer said it plans to sell almost $7.5 billion of its banking unit deposits to GE Capital Financial [GE
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] as the firm looks to exit the banking business.
Oil prices settled above $100 a barrel for the first time in two weeks, giving a boost to energy stocks. Chevron [CVX
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] logged at gain. Meanwhile, gold traded below $1,600 an ounce as investors hesitated to jump in amid ongoing worries over the euro zone crisis.
Trading volume is expected to remain light throughout the shortened holiday week.
—Follow JeeYeon Park on Twitter: twitter.com/JeeYeonParkCNBC—
On Tap This Week:
WEDNESDAY: Weekly mortgage applications
THURSDAY: Jobless claims, Chicago PMI, oil inventories, Fed balance sheet/money supply
FRIDAY: Farm prices
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