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Wall Street shares end 2014 higher | |
(about 5 hours later) | |
(Close): Leading US stocks closed lower on the last day of 2014, but still managed to notch overall gains for the year. | |
The Dow Jones fell 160 points to 17,823.07, closing below the symbolic 18,000 benchmark it hit in December. | |
The index finished up 7.5% for 2014, its sixth straight consecutive year of gains. | |
The broader S&P 500 index shed 21.45 points to 2,058.90 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 41.39 points to 4,736.05. | |
The S&P 500 ended the year up nearly 12% and the Nasdaq was the biggest winner, gaining over 14% in 2014. It was the third consecutive year of gains for both indices. | |
The Dow closed at a record high 38 times, while the S&P 500 did so 53 times in 2014 - buoyed by low-interest rates, the strengthening US recovery, and a flurry of corporate activity, particularly in relation to mergers and acquisitions. | |
Most analysts are optimistic that 2015 will be one in which the US economy continues to be a source of global growth, pushing US shares even higher. | |
Low volume | |
Retailer Home Depot was the last day of 2014's biggest winner, with shares in the home-improvement chain rising nearly 1%. | |
Investors initially were undeterred by a weekly report from the US Labor Department which showed that jobless claims had increased by 17,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 298,000. | |
Most blamed the days' losses - which came late on Wednesday - on relatively low trading volume, | |
US markets are closed on Thursday for New Year's Day. |
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