Investing.com – Wall Street fell on Friday, in a day of thin trading on the last business day of the year as technology stocks weighed on markets.
The S&P 500 fell nearly half a point or 0.01% as of 10:05 AM ET (15:05 GMT) while the Dow composite decreased seven points or 0.03% and tech heavy NASDAQ Composite was down nine points or 0.13%.
With no major economic data set for release, all three U.S. indices are set for yearly increases, despite thin trading before the New Year’s Day holiday weekend. In the last day of trading for U.S. stocks, the Dow was on track for annual gains of more than 25%, the S&P 500 was up 20%, while the Nasdaq Composite led the pack with a rally of around 29%.
Healthcare stocks were among the biggest gainers after the morning bell. Biotechnology firm Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:PGNX) increased 11.97% while Atara Biotherapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ATRA) was up 36.72%.
Meanwhile internet provider Pareteum Corp (NYSE:TEUM) surged 13.56% while trading firm GAIN Capital Holdings Inc (NYSE:GCAP) skyrocketed 20.93% and Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) rose 3.19%.
Elsewhere technology stocks were down. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell 0.66% after the company announced it would give a $50 discount to replace the battery of its iPhone 6 or later models. The firm recently disclosed that it slowed iPhone batteries as they age.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) decreased 0.45% while Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) dipped 0.50% and LiNiu Technology Group (NASDAQ:LINU) slumped 11.86%.
In Europe stocks are mostly down. In Germany the DAX fell 57 points or 0.44% while France’s CAC 40 decreased 12 points or 0.23% and in London the FTSE 100 rose 79 points or 1.04%. Meanwhile Spain’s IBEX 35 was down 39 points or 0.39% and the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 slumped 14 points or 0.43%.
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.62% to $1,305.20 a troy ounce while crude oil futures increased 0.35% to 60.05 a barrel. The U.S dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.39% to 91.98.