New York - US stocks opened lower Thursday as the broad-based S&P 500 tried to eke out a gain for 2015 in the final trading session of the year.
Five minutes into trade, the S&P 500 stood at 2 052.35, down 11.01 points (0.53%) and about five points below its closing price of 2014.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 107.72 (0.61%) to 17 496.15, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 24.51 (0.48%) at 5 041.33.
Analysts described trading volume as light and said investors were fixated on sinking oil prices as well as an increase in jobless claims to a nearly six-month high.
"One must not forget ... that the market was coming off three consecutive years of double-digit returns," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare. "So a flat year on the heels of that strong move isn't really all that bad."