By William L. Watts, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks hovered around a flat line
in the next-to-last trading session of a torrid year that's seen
Wall Street set a string of record highs, though the pace of recent
gains has fueled worries that a pullback is overdue.
Volume was expected to remain thin.
The S&P 500 (SPX) declined 1 point to 1,840, while the Dow
Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 7 points, or less than 0.1%,
to 16,484. The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) lost 14 points, or 0.3%, to
4,143.
Stocks took a breather on Friday, settling lower and breaking a
six-day Dow winning streak. The blue-chip index and the S&P 500
each added to a string of record highs last week, leaving the
market in line to end the year on a robust note.
At 10 a.m. Eastern Time, the National Association of Realtors
will report on pending home sales for November. Economists polled
by Dow Jones Newswires are forecasting the gauge to rise 1% after a
0.6% fall in October. An increase would come after five months of
declines.
"U.S. home sales data may throw traders, who will otherwise be
struggling to find some direction, a few ideas, but given 2013 has
been such a bumper year for equities in general, it seems as if the
prospect of 2014 not being quite so upbeat is already setting in,"
wrote analysts at Monex Capital in a note.
Walt Disney Co. (DIS), up 2.2%, and Coca-Cola Co. (KO), up 1%,
were top gainers among blue chips, while Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
down 0.7%, was the biggest decliner.
In other action, shares of Twitter Inc. (TWTR) fell 6%. Shares
of the microblogging platform were in focus after dropping more
than 13% on Friday as analysts expressed doubts about its
highflying performance. Twitter made its debut in an IPO earlier
this year and remains up more than 50% for the month of
December.
Shares of Crocs Inc. (CROX) were up nearly 13% after Chief
Financial Officer Jeff Lasher said in an interview that Blackstone
Group LP (BX) will invest $200 million in the shoe company and that
Chief Executive John McCarvel will retire by late April.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (CTB) was also in the spotlight,
dropping 2.7% after it terminated a $2.2 billion merger agreement
with Indian suitor Apollo Tyres Ltd.
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