Stocks finish slightly lower

Associated Press

A listless day of trading on Wall Street ended with major stock indexes closing slightly lower Tuesday, weighed down by losses among some big technology companies.

Apple slid 2.5 percent amid speculation that the consumer electronics giant might cut its targets for sales of its latest iPhone. Banks also declined, outweighing gains by energy companies and retailers. Oil prices closed higher.

Trading was light as investors returned from the Christmas holiday.

“It’s a low-volume day after Christmas, with hardly anything going on,” said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager with Globalt Investments. “You have one piece of news that is significant on a major company – Apple. That moved some of the components around.”

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 2.84 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,680.50. The Dow Jones industrial average slid 7.85 points, or 0.03 percent, to 24,746.21. The Nasdaq lost 23.71 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,936.25. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 1.30 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,544.23.

Stocks had finished higher for five straight weeks heading into this week. They are on pace to finish every month this year with gains, when dividends are included.

The major indexes were slightly lower early on and veered little for the rest of the day.