Stocks closed lower Tuesday, adding to the market’s recent losses as Wall Street counts down its final days of a painful year for investors.
The S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent, while the Nasdaq composite finished 1.4 percent lower. Both indexes were coming off their third straight weekly loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a 0.1 percent gain.
Trading was mostly muted as U.S. markets reopened following the long holiday weekend.
The S&P 500 fell 15.57 points to 3,829.25. The Nasdaq dropped 144.64 points to 10,353.23. The Dow rose 37.63 points to 33,241.56.
Technology and communication services companies accounted for a big share of the decliners in the S&P 500. Apple fell 1.4 percent and Netflix lost 3.7 percent.
Airlines stocks fell broadly. A massive winter storm caused widespread delays and forced several carriers to cancel flights over the weekend. Delta Air Lines closed 0.8 percent lower, American Airlines dropped 1.4 percent and JetBlue slid 1.1 percent.
Southwest Airlines slid 6 percent after the company had to cancel roughly two-thirds of its flights over the last couple of days, which it blamed on problems related to staffing and weather. The federal government said it would investigate why the company lagged so far behind other carriers.
Tesla fell 11.4 percent for the biggest decline among S&P 500 stocks. The electric vehicle maker temporarily suspended production at a factory in Shanghai, according to published reports.
Energy stocks were the biggest gainers among S&P 500 companies. Hess added 1.2 percent.
Small company stocks also lost ground. The Russell 2000 index dropped 11.42 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,749.52.
Treasury yields mostly rose as the U.S. bond market reopened. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, rose to 3.85 percent from 3.75 percent late Friday.
Trading on Wall Street is expected to be relatively light this holiday-shortened week as investors look ahead to 2023 after a dismal year for stocks.
Uncertainty about how far the Federal Reserve and other central banks would go to fight the highest inflation in decades has kept investors on edge. The Fed raised its key interest rate seven times this year and has signaled more hikes to come in 2023, even though the pace of price increases has been easing.
The high rates, which weigh heavily on prices for stocks and other investments, have fueled concerns that the economy could slow too much and slip into a recession next year.
The benchmark S&P 500 index set an all-time high at the beginning of January, but is now down nearly 20 percent for the year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is down nearly 34 percent.
