stock markets

U.S. stocks slid Friday following news of weak wage growth and the continuing slump in oil prices. The decline followed two days of big gains and nudged major indexes lower for the year.

Investors sent shares sharply higher for a second straight day Thursday, erasing the market’s heavy losses from the first few days of the year. The gains were driven by a combination of positive economic news from the U.S. and hopes for stimulus from Europe’s central bank.

Major indexes started climbing from the opening bell Wednesday, following a report from ADP, the payroll processor, which showed that businesses hired more workers last month. Companies added 241,000 workers in December, an increase from the previous month.

Stocks continued to retreat from their recent record highs on Tuesday, weighed down by an ongoing plunge in the price of oil. Bonds rallied as investors bought the safest assets, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note back below 2 percent for the first time in three months.

Fear shook financial markets Monday as oil plunged again, dipping below $50 for the first time in more than five years. The drop prompted a big sell-off, not just among energy stocks, but across the entire stock market. Stocks had already endured a weak open because of concerns that Greece could exit the euro, adding to worries about the poor outlook for growth in that region. As oil slid further, the stock selling accelerated, pushing the Standard & Poor’s 500 index to its biggest loss in months.

Stocks ended down Wednesday. There was no major catalyst for the selling. Trading has been slow all week because of the holidays and most fund managers have closed their books for the year. However, some investors do reshuffle their portfolios in the last few days of the year for tax purposes.

Trading was slow Tuesday as most investors have closed their books for 2014. U.S. stocks opened lower and stayed down throughout the day. It was the eighth-slowest day of the year on the New York Stock Exchange. As been the case several times this year, investors turned their eyes to Europe.

Stocks wavered throughout the day, with the Dow Jones industrial average moving between gains and losses several times. In the end the blue-chip index closed down slightly, but other major indexes recorded tiny gains.

The stock market got off to a positive start early Wednesday following the labor market report and held onto to its gains throughout much of the abbreviated trading session. Shortly before the stock market closed at 1 p.m. ET the S&P 500 turned lower.

Investors welcomed the latest encouraging news on the economy Tuesday as the government said the U.S. grew at the fastest pace in more than a decade in the third quarter. The Dow passed the 18,000-point mark for the first time.

After a strong finish last week, investors remained mostly in a buying mood Monday. The major stock indexes drifted between small gains and losses in the morning, as traders digested the latest housing data.

With little news to give them direction, traders continued to push indexes higher on Friday. That extended a rally from Wednesday when the Federal Reserve said it was in no hurry to hike interest rates. “What a very crazy week,” said Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ.

Stock market gains Thursday were led by technology stocks as Oracle soared following better-than-expected earnings. Industrial and health care stocks also logged big gains. Even the energy sector advanced, despite another drop in the price of oil.

Stocks rose from the open on Wednesday, led by gains for the energy sector, as oil prices showed signs of stabilizing after their big slump in recent months. The market’s gains were extended after Fed policymakers released a statement following the end of its most recent policy meeting.

Major indexes opened lower Tuesday as falling oil prices and a plunge in the Russian ruble weighed on markets. Less than an hour later, crude oil recovered and oil and gas producers surged, driving the Dow Jones industrial average up as much as 246 points in the morning. All of the gains were wiped out in the last hour.

A brief rally after trading opened Monday in the U.S. vanished as crude oil continued a six-month slide that has slashed its price nearly in half. Global demand for oil has been waning just as supplies are becoming more abundant.

Seven days after closing at record levels on the back of a strong employment report, the stock market slumped to its worst weekly loss in two and a half years. The catalyst for the sell-off was an extension of a rout in oil prices on Friday.

Companies that rely the most on spending by consumers rose the most Thursday. The S&P 500 consumer discretionary sector, a category that includes department stores and other retailers, gained 0.7%, while makers of consumer staples increased 0.8%. Urban Outfitters, GameStop, Coach, Best Buy and Macy’s were among the biggest gainers.

Stocks slid Wednesday. The catalyst was a sell-off in oil following an OPEC report that projected demand for its crude would sink next year to levels not seen in more than a decade. Demand for the cartel’s oil has been eroded as other countries such as the U.S. have stepped up production.

After an early sell-off, the Dow Jones industrial average steadied and ended with a moderate loss of 0.3%. That followed a sharp drop in European indexes, most notably in Greece, where the stock market suffered its biggest one-day loss since 1987. Greek officials called an early presidential vote, and investors feared the outcome could jeopardize the country’s bailout program.

Stocks fell Monday as energy issues dropped sharply. The drop in oil weighed on stocks from the start of trading. Weak trade figures out of China and news that Japan’s recession is deeper than initially thought suggested demand for crude would be lower in those two economies. Among the big losers were two Dow Jones industrial average components, Chevron, down 3.7 percent, and Exxon Mobil, off 2.3 percent.

Despite the good news from a strong jobs report, stock gains were restrained Friday. Investors now expect that the robust jobs growth — and other signs the economy is accelerating — could lead the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sooner than anticipated.

Stocks slipped Thursday on European Central Bank stimulus speculation. Stocks had been solidly lower much of the day, but did recover some of their losses after news outlets reported that the European Central Bank would consider a large stimulus package for next month.

U.S. stocks estended their record run Wednesday following positive economic reports in advance of the government’s monthly jobs survey scheduled to be published on Friday.

Reports that fewer people turned out to shop over the Thanksgiving weekend helped knock the market down on Monday. But those concerns were likely overblown, as other evidence suggests that people simply wanted to avoid the crowds at Black Friday sales, said Brad McMillan, the chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial. IBM Digital Analytics, for instance, said that sales on Cyber Monday jumped 8%.

Tribune Media Co. said today that it has received approval to list its Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange. The company said it expects trading  to begin on Friday, Dec.  5, under the symbol TRCO. Prior to then, the Class A stock will continue to trade on the OTC Bulletin Board, but trading on the OTC will cease concurrent with the listing of the Class A common stock on the NYSE. Tribune said its warrants and Class B common stock are expected to continue to be traded on the OTC.

Stocks slipped Monday after retail sales weakened. Earlier sales, a shift to online shopping and stagnant wages meant fewer Americans showed up to stores over the Thanksgiving weekend, the National Retail Federation said Sunday. The trade group estimated that total spending for the four days totaled $50.9 billion, down 11% from last year.

U.S. stock markets inched to record highs on Wednesday. Orders for long-lasting manufactured goods rose in October, but a key category that tracks business investment plans declined sharply for a second straight month. Another report showed U.S. consumers spent modestly more in October, a slight improvement after no gain at all in the previous month.

Stocks started the day with small gains after a report showed that the U.S. economy grew at a solid 3.9% annual rate in the July-September period, faster than the 3.5% that was initially reported. But then energy stocks slid as the price of oil resumed its descent.

On Monday, stock gains were led by the so-called consumer discretionary sector, which includes retailers such as Coach, Urban Outfitters and Gap. These stocks should benefit most if the consumers go on a spending spree this holiday season. Stocks have surged since bottoming out in a slump that stretched from mid-September to mid-October.

The Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index carved out all-time highs on Friday, extending the market’s gains for the week. It was the third record close for the Dow in the week and the fourth for the S&P 500. Investors on Friday cheered news of an interest rate cut in China and the possibility that Europe’s central bank will step up stimulus efforts in the region.

Thursday was the second record-high close for the Dow this week and the third for the S&P 500. The modest gains erased losses from the day before, pushing the three major stock indexes further ahead for the week.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index mostly hovered slightly below the all-time high closes set a day earlier. Investors sifted through a batch of favorable corporate earnings as they waited for the Federal Reserve to publish the minutes from its late-October policy meeting. Traders hoped to glean fresh insight into when the central bank will raise a benchmark interest rate that affects many consumer and business loans.

Pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies led the broad pickup in stocks, extending gains for the S&P 500 and Dow. The Nasdaq notched its first gain this week. A positive outlook from homebuilders and encouraging news from Japan and Germany also helped lift markets.

The major stock indexes started off in negative territory early Monday as the markets reacted to data showing the world’s third-largest economy unexpectedly shrank at a 1.6% annual pace in the third quarter after contracting 7.1% the previous quarter. U.S. markets veered lower much of the morning. By afternoon, though, stocks began to pare some their losses as traders cheered several pieces of corporate deal news.

After flitting between tiny gains and losses for most of Friday, the Standard and Poor’s 500 index rose just two-hundredths of one percent to close at a record high. The Dow Jones industrial average ended slightly lower, but the losses were limited by a gain in energy shares, which have been falling sharply in recent months as oil prices drop. As of Friday, the S&P 500 is up 10% so far this year.

All three major U.S. indexes closed higher after a late-afternoon rally. following encouraging quarterly results from Wal-Mart Stores and the media giant Viacom, then flitted up and down most of the day. After four weeks of healthy gains for stocks and a series of record daily closes, the tepid trading was not unexpected.

Stocks edged lower Wednesday after five days of record highs. Regulators from the U.S., Switzerland and the U.K. fined five major banks a total of $3.4 billion for conspiring to manipulate foreign-currency trading. The news drove down bank stocks in Europe and U.S.

The stock market’s climb to record levels hit an all time high Tuesday. It is being underpinned by record corporate earnings. As the reporting period for the third quarter winds down, companies have again managed to post strong earnings, allaying investors’ concern that slowing growth elsewhere in the world would crimp profits.

Stocks climbed Monday after positive earnings reports from home builders and others. Stocks are trading at record levels, having rebounded following a sharp slump at the beginning of October. Improving company earnings and signs that the U.S. economy remains solid, despite growth lagging overseas, are encouraging stock investors.