American stocks end the year down

US stocks ended a strong 2014 with moderate declines today.

Even with the losses, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index finished the year with an 11.4% increase, its sixth straight year of gains. Oil, by contrast, had its worst annual performance since 2008, ending down 45% for 2014 after a sharp slump in the second half of the year.

The 11.4% rise in the S&P 500 was double what strategists expected for the market at the beginning of the year.

“It turned out to be a great year for US economic growth, which got us higher corporate profits as well,” said Cameron Hinds, regional chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank.

Most strategists believe the stock market will also rise in 2015, but they expect more modest gains of between 4% and 6%.

There was no major catalyst for today’s selling. Trading has been slow all week because of the holidays and most fund managers have closed their books for the year. However, some investors do reshuffle their portfolios in the last few days of the year for tax purposes.

Roughly 2.6 billion shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, compared with the 3.6 billion typically traded on an average day.

Energy stocks edged lower as the price of oil fell. Benchmark U.S. crude dropped 85 cents to 53.27 US dollars a barrel in New York. Oil has plunged since June amid abundant supplies and weak global demand. In total, the price fell 45% in 2014, the worst year for crude since the 2008 financial crisis.

Oil drillers fell the most Wednesday. Diamond Offshore was the biggest decliner in the S&P 500, declining 3.6%. The energy component of the S&P 500 is down 10% this year

“I think most of the selling you’re seeing today is related to the fall in oil, as well as repositioning before the end of the year,” Mr Hinds said.

US markets will be closed tomorrow for New Year’s Day and will reopen on Friday.

Today, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 160 points, or 0.9%, to 17,823.07. It ended 2014 up 7.5%, lagging behind the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

The Nasdaq lost 41.39 points, or 0.9%, to 4,736.05. The Nasdaq rose 13.4% in 2014.

The S&P 500 fell 21.45 points, or 1%, to 2,058.90.

Prices for US government bonds rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged down to 2.17%. Bonds were an unexpected strong spot for the market in 2014. The 10-year note started 2014 at around 2.99%. Bond yields fall as prices rise.

Gold fell 16.30 US dollars to 1,184.10 US dollars an ounce. The precious metal barely budged in 2014, falling 0.2%, compared with its drop of 28.3% in 2013.

Silver fell 68 cents to 15.60 US dollars an ounce and copper fell three cents to 2.83 US dollars a pound.

In other futures trading on the Nymex:

• Wholesale petrol fell 1.8 cents to 1.435 US dollars a gallon.

• Heating oil fell 2.2 cents to close at 1.847 US dollars a gallon.

• Natural gas fell 20.5 cents to close at 2.889 US dollars per 1,000 cubic feet.