NEW YORK -- Stocks finished lower Wednesday as health care companies continued to struggle. Shares of energy companies rose as the price of natural gas surged on the first day of winter.
The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 32.66 points, or 0.2 percent, to 19,941.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 5.58 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,265.18. The Nasdaq composite fell 12.51 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,471.43.
Some traders aren't sticking around to see if the Dow reaches the 20,000-point milestone: Trading volume has fallen sharply this week as Christmas draws near.
After a mixed open, stocks finished at their lowest prices of the day. Health care companies continued to lag behind the market, as they've done throughout 2016. Industrial companies, which have surged since the presidential election, also eased lower. A jump of almost 9 percent in the price of natural gas helped gas and pipeline companies move higher.
"It looks like we're going to see another cold blast," said Jim Ritterbusch, an analyst who advises oil traders. He said weather forecasts suggest temperatures will drop later next week, which means people will use more natural gas to heat their homes.
Shares of drugmaker Celgene dipped $2.67, or 2.3 percent, to $115.85 ; Merck skidded $1.07, or 1.8 percent, to $59.43; and health insurance company Anthem lost $2.68, or 1.8 percent, to $144.98 as health care stocks fell. The S&P 500 health care index is down 4.4 percent this year. The S&P 500 itself is up almost 11 percent.
Natural gas companies made big gains thanks to a surge in natural gas futures. The price of that fuel climbed 28 cents, or 8.6 percent, to $3.54 per 1,000 cubic feet on the first day of winter. Southwestern Energy jumped 60 cents, or 5.8 percent, to $10.98.
The price of natural gas has fluctuated sharply in the past few months.
"Whenever you get extreme volatility in the weather patterns, that translates to price volatility in futures," said Ritterbusch.
FedEx said its quarterly expenses climbed and its earnings fell short of Wall Street estimates. The company's stock fell $6.62, or 3.3 percent, to $192.12.
Twitter slumped after Chief Technology Officer Adam Messinger said he's leaving the company. Twitter has seen a number of executives leave recently. Twitter shares fell 84 cents, or 4.7 percent, to $17.08.
AMC Entertainment took a step toward completing its purchase of competitor Carmike Cinemas. The Department of Justice said it will sign off on the sale if AMC sells 15 movie theaters in areas where it competes with Carmike.
AMC agreed to buy Carmike in July for about $825 million in cash and stock in a deal that would make AMC the biggest movie theater chain in the U.S. Its stock rose $1.25, or 3.7 percent, to $34.70.
Nike shares gained 51 cents, or 1 percent, to $52.30 after its second-quarter profit and sales came in stronger than analysts expected.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell 81 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $52.49 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 89 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $54.46 a barrel in London.
The dollar declined to 117.54 yen from 118.04 yen. The euro rose to $1.0427 from $1.0377.
Bond prices inched higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slid to 2.54 percent from 2.56 percent.
Business on 12/22/2016