US: Wall St ends with slight losses, energy weighs again

[NEW YORK] US stocks ended slightly lower on Thursday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi brushed off pressure for more immediate monetary policy action but said the issue would be addressed early next year.

The day's losses were slight but broad, with seven of the ten primary S&P 500 sectors ending in negative territory and no sector up more than 0.3 per cent.

Draghi said the ECB would reassess the impact of its stimulus early in 2015 and take further action if necessary, but didn't mention a specific timeline.

The S&P 500 fell as much as 0.6 per cent before rebounding and briefly turned positive. The Dow had touched an intraday record. "I wasn't expecting much from the ECB, which doesn't want to paint itself into a corner, but eventually we'll need to see action, not just words," said Matt Lloyd, chief investment strategist at Advisors Asset Management in Monument, Colorado.

The ECB met under growing pressure to prevent the bloc's economy from entering recession. The bank has already cut borrowing costs to record lows, given cheap loans to banks, and started buying debt to kick-start lending and bolster growth. "We expect more stimulus will eventually happen, and it will really help the European economy," said Mr Lloyd, who helps oversee US$16 billion in assets. "We're very bullish on Europe going into next year." The Dow Jones industrial average fell 12.52 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 17,900.1, the S&P 500 lost 2.41 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 2,071.92 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.04 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 4,769.44.

The day's losses were concentrated in energy shares, where the S&P Energy sector lost 0.8 per cent alongside a 1 per cent drop in the price of crude oil. ConocoPhillips fell 2.1 percent to US$69.31 while Chevron Corp was off 1.3 per cent at US$112.28.

The moves follow three days of gains, when the group advanced 3.2 per cent.

Microsoft Corp rose 1.6 per cent to US$48.84, limiting the decline in all three major indexes. Earlier, Barnes & Noble Inc struck a deal to buy Microsoft's stake in Nook Media LLC in a deal valued at US$125 million. Shares of Barnes & Noble fell 5.4 per cent to US$21.03.

Investors are looking ahead to the government's non-farm payrolls report for November, due before the market opens on Friday. Expectations are that the US economy created 230,000 jobs last month.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE 1,957 to 1,117, for a 1.75-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 1,625 issues fell and 1,068 advanced for a 1.52-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.

The S&P 500 was posting 102 new 52-week highs and 8 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 133 new highs and 89 new lows.

About 6.02 billion shares traded on all US platforms, according to BATS exchange data.

REUTERS