Big Year Ends With a Fizzle
Robert Holmes
12/29/06 - 04:54 PM EST
Updated from 4:11 p.m. EST
Stocks closed the last trading day of 2006 near their session lows, but the modest selling pressure couldn't put a dent in what has been a very successful year overall for the bulls.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Friday at 12,463.15, down 38.37 points, or 0.31%. The
S&P 500 was down 6.43 points, or 0.45%, at 1418.30, and the
Nasdaq Composite gave up 10.28 points, or 0.42%, to 2415.29.
Only seven of the Dow's 30 components escaped losses.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote) was the biggest decliner, finishing down 1.3%.
Intel (INTC Quote), the average's biggest loser this year with an 18% drop, was down 0.8% to $20.25.
The major indices started this holiday-shortened week on a high note, surging the first two sessions before edging lower on Wednesday.
During the previous day, the Dow slipped 9.05 points, or 0.07%, to 12,501.52. The S&P 500 lost 2.11 points, or 0.15%, to 1424.73, and the Nasdaq was off 5.65 points, or 0.23%, at 2425.57.
All told, the Dow jumped 120 points during the week, and the S&P 500 was higher by 7 points. The Nasdaq rose about 14 points. Volume was light to end the week, with 1.68 billion shares changing hands on the
New York Stock Exchange. Decliners beat advancers by a 5-to-3 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq reached nearly 1.42 billion shares, with losers beating winners 3 to 2.
Traders can look back on this year as a successful one, as the Dow surged 16.3% and the S&P 500 advanced more than 13.6%. The Nasdaq was higher by 9.5% for the year.
As the session wrapped up, New York trading won't get under way again until next Wednesday. The market will be closed Monday for the New Year's holiday and Tuesday for the funeral of former President Gerald Ford.
By shutting Jan. 2, the Nasdaq and the NYSE will both be closed for four consecutive days for the first time since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
On the corporate side,
Apple (AAPL Quote) remained in the news. The company filed its delayed quarterly report and admitted to falsifying documents on its stock options, but it said that none of its current executives knew about the issue and that CEO Steve Jobs didn't benefit financially.
Shares of Apple rose 4.9% to finish at $84.84. For the year, the stock gained roughly 18%.
Elsewhere,
Delta (DALRQ Quote) reported a narrower loss for November than it had in the same month a year ago, and
Marsh & McClennan (MMC Quote) is planning to unload its Putnam Investments unit for $3.9 billion, according to a published report.
Meanwhile, phone giant
AT&T (T Quote) has offered regulators new concessions in a bid to get its merger with regional carrier
BellSouth (BLS Quote) approved before the year ends. The deal is now valued around $85 billion.
Shares of AT&T added 25 cents, or 0.7%, to $35.75. BellSouth gained 31 cents, or 0.7%, to close at $47.11.
In the absence of any major economic release, Treasuries ticked lower. The benchmark 10-year lost 4/32 in price to yield 4.70% and the 30-year eased by 1/32, yielding 4.81%. The dollar was mixed against the world's major currencies.
Crude futures were higher in Nymex floor trading, extending the previous session's gain. The February contract added 52 cents to close at $61.05 a barrel. Gold rose $1.10 to $638 an ounce, while silver was off by a half-cent to $12.93 an ounce.
Overseas, the Tokyo Nikkei was unchanged at 17,225, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was lower by 0.2% at 19,965. London's FTSE was down 0.3% at 6220, and Frankfurt's Xetra DAX eased 0.2% at 6596.
