Investing.com – US stocks closed lower on Friday as a slump in telecom and financials offsets gains in the utilities, weighing on the broader market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower at 24721.83. The S&P 500 closed 0.52% lower, while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6903.39, down 0.67%.
The final trading day of the year for US stocks ended on a sour note failing to notch another record high amid the seasonal slump in trading volumes.
A slump in shares of Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) weighed on financials after the bank said that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, will reduce its fourth-quarter and annual earnings by $5 billion. The repatriation tax, a levy on overseas earnings, was said to responsible for the bulk, roughly two-thirds, of the $5 billion figure.
"The tax legislation significantly revises the US corporate income tax by, among other things, lowering corporate income tax rates, implementing the territorial tax system and imposing a repatriation tax on deemed repatriated earnings of foreign subsidiaries," Goldman Sachs said in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Tech, meanwhile, continued its recent trend lower led by Apple as the tech giant remained under pressure after revealing that it intentionally slowed older iPhones.
'Bulls and Bears' on Wall Street
The top Dow jones gainers for the session: General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) up 0.5%, Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) up 0.3% and 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) up 0%
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) down 1.1%, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) down 1%, and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) gamble down 0.6%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.