NEW YORK — U.S. stocks ended a strong year with moderate declines Wednesday.
Even with the losses, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index finished the year up 11.4 percent, or 13.7 percent, when dividends are included. It was the sixth straight year of gains for the stock market.
Oil, by contrast, had its worst annual performance since 2008, ending down 45 percent for 2014 after a sharp slump in the second half of the year.
The market’s annual gain exceeded even the most optimistic forecasts made at the beginning of the year.
“It turned out to be a great year for U.S. economic growth, which got us higher corporate profits as well,” said Cameron Hinds, regional chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank.
Most strategists believe the stock market also will rise in 2015, but they expect more modest gains of between 4 percent and 6 percent.
There was no major catalyst for Wednesday’s selling. Trading has been slow all week because of the holidays, and most fund managers have closed their books for the year. However, some investors do reshuffle their portfolios in the last few days of the year for tax purposes.
Energy stocks edged lower as the price of oil fell. Benchmark U.S. crude dropped 85 cents to $53.27 a barrel in New York. Oil has plunged by half since June amid abundant supplies and weak global demand.
Oil drillers fell the most Wednesday. Diamond Offshore Drilling took the biggest fall in the S&P 500, declining 3.6 percent. The energy component of the S&P 500 is down 10 percent this year
“I think most of the selling you’re seeing today is related to the fall in oil, as well as repositioning before the end of the year,” Hinds said.
U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for New Year’s Day.
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 160 points, or 0.9 percent, to 17,823.07. It ended 2014 up 7.5 percent, lagging behind the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
The Nasdaq lost 41.39 points, or 0.9 percent, to 4,736.05. The Nasdaq rose 13.4 percent in 2014.
The S&P 500 fell 21.45 points, or 1 percent, to 2,058.90.
