US markets closed lower on last trading day of 2017

30 Dec 2017 Evaluate

The US markets closed lower on Friday, putting a negative tinge to an otherwise positive year as selling accelerated in the final minutes of a thinly traded session. Some of the selling followed on report that Russian tankers had supplied fuel to North Korea in recent months, a development that could add another element of geopolitical uncertainty to markets, particularly given the strained relations between the US and Moscow in 2017. All three major averages ended lower for the week but closed higher for the month of December. Trading was muted in the final days of 2017, with volumes some of the lowest of the year, and with many traders on vacation until after the New Year’s holiday on Monday, when markets will be closed. There were no major economic data releases on Friday. More broadly, expectations are growing that President Donald Trump’s administration will shift attention to a $1 trillion infrastructure-spending bill, which could deliver a further jolt to Wall Street buying after Republicans passed the most sweeping overhaul of the US tax code in 30 years as well as a stopgap spending bill to keep the government funded into early 2018.

Meanwhile, the dollar sank on Friday, falling against all other major currencies and clinching its biggest yearly loss since 2003. Expectations for higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve have also failed to give the dollar a lift. That’s in part because foreign-exchange traders have paid closer attention to the greenback’s rivals that have suffered from years of weakness against the dollar. The dollar’s slide this year has come as a surprise for some who thought the Republican tax bill would spark a rebound.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 118.29 points or 0.48 percent to 24,719.22 and the Nasdaq dropped 46.771 points or 0.67 percent to 6,903.39, and the S&P 500 edged lower by 13.93 points or 0.52 percent to 2,673.61.

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