Wall Street Is Mainly Flat

The stock market showed little change on a quiet Monday as investors started shutting their books on what has been an extraordinary year on Wall Street.

Traders had little major corporate or economic news to work through.

The Standard Poor’s 500-stock index dipped just 0.33 of a point, to 1,841.07, and the Nasdaq composite index slipped 2.40 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 4,154.20.

The Dow Jones industrial average moved less than 30 points the entire day, the narrowest range for the index since February 2007. The Dow ended the day up 25.88 points, or 0.16 percent, to 16,504.29.

Approximately 2.3 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, 40 percent less than average.

“The very narrow range reflects that there’s not a lot of news out there and a lot of investors’ positions are closed for the year,” said Alec Young, chief global strategist with SP Capital IQ.

With just one trading day left in the year, 2013 is looking to be a memorable one for investors. The S.P. 500 is up 29.09 percent so far, on pace for its best year since 1997. The Dow is up 25.95 percent, the most since 1996.

With 2013 in the books, investors have turned their attention to the beginning of 2014. Few expect next year to be as good to investors as 2013 was.

“After a year like this, people start to think a 30 percent-plus year is normal,” said Ron Florance, deputy chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank. “We need to be realistic going into next year.”

The next big piece of news awaiting investors will be the December employment report, which will be released Jan. 10. There is also corporate earnings season, which will start in the second half of January and encompass the closely watched holiday shopping period.

“The market is rallying on the idea that economic growth is picking up globally and in the U.S., so investors need to see those expectations matched,” Mr. Young said.

The bond market was quiet as well on Monday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2.97 percent, from 3 percent late Friday, while its price increased 8/32, to 98 4/32.

The stock market is expected to be in a holding pattern until next week, when the midweek holidays are over, Mr. Florance said. Both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq will be closed on Wednesday for New Year’s Day.

Among the stocks on the move on Monday, Walt Disney rose $1.88, or 2.53 percent, to $76.23, the most in the S.P. 500. Analysts at Guggenheim Securities upgraded Disney to a buy from a hold on Friday.

Twitter fell $3.24, or 5.08 percent, to $60.51, following a 13 percent drop on Friday. Shares of the social media company, which went public for $26 in early November, had hit a closing high of $73.31 on Thursday.

Crocs jumped $2.81, or 21.08 percent, to $16.14, after the Blackstone Group said it was investing $200 million in the clog maker.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/31/business/daily-stock-market-activity.html?partner=rss&emc=rss