Stock market today: Wall Street slips in final days of a banner year for US stocks

U.S. stocks closed broadly lower Monday as a banner year on Wall Street looked set to finish on a sour note.

The S&P 500 fell 1.1%, its third straight decline. Roughly 90% of stocks within the index lost ground. On the second-to-last day of 2024, the benchmark index was still on track for its second straight yearly gain of more than 20%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1%, and the Nasdaq composite ended 1.2% lower.

Big Tech companies were the heaviest weights on the market, worsening the slump. Apple and Microsoft fell 1.3%. Their pricey valuations tend to have an outsized impact on the broader market.

Elsewhere among tech stocks, Meta Platforms dropped 1.4%, Netflix slipped 0.8% and Amazon fell 1.1%.

The S&P 500’s technology and communication services sectors have been the market’s high flyers, notching gains of 37.1% and 39.9%, respectively, so far this year.

Boeing fell 2.3% after one of its jets skidded off a runway in South Korea, killing 179 of the 181 people aboard. South Korea is inspecting all 737-800 aircraft operated by airlines in the country.

The disaster was yet another blow for Boeing following a machinists strike, further safety problems with its troubled top-selling aircraft and a plunging stock price. Its shares have declined more than 30% this year.

Airlines that fly Boeing jets wavered in the wake of the crash. United Airlines fell 1.4% and Delta Air Lines dropped 0.9%.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 63.90 points to 5,906.94. The Dow dropped 418.48 points to 42,573.73, and the Nasdaq fell 235.25 points to 19,486.78.

Bond yields fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.53% from 4.63% late Friday. The yield on the two-year Treasury fell to 4.25% from 4.33% late Friday.

The price of U.S. crude oil rose 0.6%. Energy stocks held up better than the rest of the market, falling just 0.1%.

Natural gas prices jumped 12%. That helped support gains for natural gas producers. EQT Corp. rose 5.1% for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks.

Indexes in Europe and Asia mostly fell.

Markets are nearing the close of a stellar year driven by a growing economy, solid consumer spending and a strong jobs market. Wall Street expects companies within the S&P 500 to report broad earnings growth of more than 9% for the year, according to FactSet. The final figures will be tallied following fourth-quarter reports that start in a few weeks.

Wall Street was encouraged by cooling inflation throughout the year that had brought the rate of inflation close to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. That raised hopes that the central bank would deliver a steady stream of interest rate cuts, which would ease borrowing costs and fuel more economic growth.

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