Last updated: December 31, 2015 10:47 pm
US and European equities slid on the final trading day of 2015 in thin and choppy trade, with the benchmark US equity index closing out the year with a loss after three years of double-digit gains.
The S&P 500 declined 0.9 per cent to 2,044 on Thursday, as selling pressures materialised in the final hour of the New York trading day. The index finished 2015 with a loss of 0.7 per cent, its worst annual performance since the financial crisis in 2008 when it declined 38.5 per cent.
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The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1 per cent on Thursday to 17,425; since the year began the index has declined 2.2 per cent.
Volatile crude prices and an unexpected jump in initial jobless claims in the US weighed on sentiment.
With the final whistle blown on 2015 trading, here is the year’s scorecard for markets.
Thursday’s figures from the US Department of Labor showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits had risen by 20,000 to 287,000 — the highest level since July. Economists cautioned that the rise could have been caused by difficulties in seasonally adjusting the data, instead of weakness in the labour market.
“For now we think that this latest jump up in claims represents noise in the data rather than a sudden deterioration in the underlying trend,” JPMorgan’s Daniel Silver said. “It does look like the trend in claims has softened somewhat since October.”
Oil’s steep slide has overshadowed markets during the year, stoking concern not just about its immediate implications for stocks in the energy sector, but also about the outlook for inflation in developed markets.
Brent crude, the international marker, reversed early losses on Thursday to settle 2.3 per cent higher at $37.28 a barrel after a report published midday showed US crude oil production falling in October. West Texas Intermediate climbed 1.2 per cent to $37.04.
For the year, Brent has slid 35 per cent — on top of a 48 per cent decline in 2014. WTI has closed the year roughly 30 per cent below its start.
European oil majors were left exposed as bourses closed for the year before the midday bounce in crude prices. Shares in Royal Dutch Shell fell 1.2 per cent on Thursday. BP was down 0.3 cent, while France’s Total slipped 0.7 per cent.
Technology and consumer companies were among the steepest decliners in the US on Thursday. Shares of the Gap, Apple and Amazon each fell more than 1 per cent.
In London the resource-heavy FTSE 100 closed 0.5 per cent lower, which left its decline for the calendar year at 4.9 per cent, underperforming its European peers, which largely remain positive.
The CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.9 per cent, trimming its wider gain since January to 9.5 per cent. Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax 30 remained closed for the New Year’s eve public holiday, leaving it up 9.6 per cent for 2015.
The Europe-wide Euro Stoxx 600 slid 0.5 per cent.
On currency markets the dollar was broadly stronger, with the dollar index up 0.4 per cent on the day at 98.641.
The euro’s brisk showing in late December left its rally looking tired. The shared currency fell 0.6 per cent to $1.0863, while the pound declined 0.5 per cent to $1.4743.
In Asia the tone of the final session of the year was steady, with China’s main indices mixed.
The Shanghai Composite fell 0.9 per cent, trimming its gain for 2015 to 9.4 per cent after a year of volatility marked by a sharp slide in August and then a steady recovery from lows. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ticked up 0.2 per cent, leaving it down 7 per cent since January.
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