Indexes fall as stocks end good year

While stocks delivered solid gains for investors in 2024, major U.S. stock indexes fell on the last trading day of the year, extending a string of post-holiday losses.

The S&P 500 gave up its morning gains, ending the New Year’s Eve session with a decline of 0.4%. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.9% as investors bid farewell to a robust year within the technology sector, while the Dow fell lower than 0.1%.

Shares of Tesla (TSLA) fell 3.3%, losing essentially the most of all S&P 500 stocks. As the brand new market year begins on Thursday, the automaker is scheduled to release quarterly delivery data. While analysts expect Tesla to post a record fourth-quarter deliveries, full-year delivery totals will still miss estimates even when results meet high consensus expectations. While the corporate’s stock rallied after the presidential election as analysts predicted how Tesla may gain advantage as CEO Elon Musk takes office in the brand new administration, the stock has lost ground over the previous couple of sessions of the year.

While shares of Nvidia (NVDA) have seen a formidable surge of over 170% in 2024, shares of the semiconductor giant fell 2.3% in the ultimate session of the year. Still, analysts maintain optimistic long-term expectations for the chipmaker, forecasting strong growth driven by artificial intelligence (AI), gaming and enterprise markets.

Shares of Texas power producer NRG Energy (NRG) fell 2.1%. The slowdown reversed a small portion of the gains posted by the corporate’s stock in the course of the year as investors assessed utilities’ ability to produce electricity to power-hungry AI data centers. Despite Tuesday’s decline, NRG stock ended up up nearly 75% in 2024.

Shares of Moderna ( MRNA ) jumped 5.6%, posting the very best day by day performance on the S&P 500 within the closing session of 2024. Barron’s highlighted that the vaccine maker’s shares might be the highest pick in the approaching year, declaring that the stock appears undervalued after falling greater than 50% because the starting of the year. While analysts remain concerned about Moderna’s increased research and development (R&D) spending, the potential rollout of cytomegalovirus vaccines and personalized cancer vaccines could ultimately provide sales growth.

Strong data from China’s manufacturing sector helped fuel oil futures prices higher on Tuesday, helping many oil and gas firms gain. Shares of the exploration and production company APA Corp. (APA) rose 3.0%, while shares of refiner Marathon Petroleum (MPC) rose 2.9%.

Shares of frozen potato distributor Lamb Weston (LW) rose 2.9%. The company’s stock saw significant volatility in the previous couple of sessions of 2024 as activist investor Jana Partners stepped up its efforts to alter the corporate by partnering with one other former company executive. Lamb Weston appointed a brand new chief executive earlier this month under pressure from Jan after it reported a quarterly loss and cut its full-year forecast.