Dow industrials kick of trade on a subdued note in 2020’s final session

U.S. stocks started the final trading session in the week, month, quarter and year on a muted note, as indexes aimed to cap a tumultuous but historic period for markets, and the global economy, that has been stricken by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most financial markets are expected to be closed on Friday in observance of New Year’s Day and the trading on Thursday were slated to be relatively muted. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.65%
declined less than 0.1% at 30,398, the S&P 500 index
SPX,
+0.64%
edged up less than 0.1% at 3,732, while the Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
+0.14%
advanced less than 0.1% at 12,879.