US stocks end with minor losses

Drop in Apple shares hits tech sector

U.S. stocks finished slightly lower on Tuesday, 26 December 2017 as a decline in Apple more than offset post holiday gains in the retail sector and a surge in crude-oil futures that took the commodity to a 2-year high. It was a lackadaisical day of trading on Wall Street. The light participation was not a surprise as this is a popular vacation day (and week). Major bourses in Europe were closed for Boxing Day, which contributed to the light volume.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded down 7.85 points, or less than 0.1%, to 24,746.21. The S&P 500 index lost 2.84 points, or 0.1%, at 2,680.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 23.71 points, or 0.3%, at 6,936.25.

A surge in crude-oil futures helped the energy sector, post the best daily performance among the S&P 500's 11 sectors.

Apple's share decline was cutting about 30 points from the price-weighted benchmark and weighing on the broader tech sector.

In a holiday shortened stretch, with most global markets closed Monday, volumes were low, given that many traders are likely to remain on vacation until after the New Year's holiday. European markets were closed on Tuesday in observance of Boxing Day.

Retailers enjoyed sharp gains on reports of a post-Christmas sales bounce. Shares of Macy's rose 4.6%, Kohl's Corp. rallied 6%, while shares of Wal-Mart Stores 1%.

The ICE Dollar Index tipped 0.1% lower at 93.24, while stocks traded mixed. Commodities, which is priced in dollars, tends to be sensitive to moves in its exchange rate. The two assets typically move inversely.

Early Tuesday, Case-Shiller home-price data revealed a rise in the 20-city index, in what will be a fairly quiet week for data, offering little fresh fodder for a gold market that expects the Federal Reserve to continue its slow course of interest-rate hikes in 2018.

Bullion prices ended higher at Comex on Tuesday, 26 November 2017. Gold futures notched the best finish in nearly four weeks on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar weakened slightly, offering a lift to the yellow metal.

February gold, the most active contract on Comex, rose $8.70, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,287.50 an ounce. Gold hasn't settled higher since Nov. 28, when the metal ended at $1,294.90. March silver rose 16 cents, or 1%, to end at $16.604 an ounce.

Crude oil prices finished around a 2-year high on Tuesday, 26 December 2017 at Nymex with futures supported by pipeline outages in the North Sea and Libya.

West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $1.50, or 2.6%, to settle at $59.97 a barrel. The contract briefly hit $60 a barrel, reaching a level not touched since late June of 2015. The U.S. benchmark posted a 2% rise for last week, marking its first weekly gain in three. February Brent crude, the global benchmark, picked up $1.77, or 2.7%, to $67.02 a barrel. The contract logged a 3.2% weekly advance through Friday.

The yield on the 2-yr note bumped up one basis point to 1.90% following a weak $26 billion 2-yr note auction; meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 10-yr note slipped two basis points to 2.47%.

Wednesday's slate of data will feature the weekly Mortgage Applications Index at 7:00 a.m. ET, the Consumer Confidence report for December at 10:00 a.m. ET, and the Pending Home Sales report for November at 10:00 a.m. ET.

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