U.S. Stocks Little Changed as Energy Offsets Small-Caps.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-02/u-s-stock-index-futures-advance-after-s-p-500-december-decline.html

U.S. stocks were little changed, erasing earlier losses, as gains in utilities and energy companies offset a slide in small-caps amid data showing manufacturing expanded less than forecast.

Range Resources Corp. and EQT Corp. surged more than 2.4 percent as energy shares advanced after fluctuating earlier in the day. Weight Watchers International Inc. plunged 13 percent as the Russell 2000 Index lost 0.5 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) fell less than 0.1 percent to 2,058.20 at 4 p.m. in New York. The gauge rose as much as 0.7 percent and dropped more than 0.6 percent during the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 9.92 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 17,832.99. More than 5.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 23 percent below the three-month average.

“Investors are looking for validation that the economy is, in fact, as strong as advertised,” Peter Sorrentino, a Cincinnati-based fund manager at Huntington Asset Advisors Inc., which oversees $1.8 billion, said in a phone interview. “The market may struggle to find its footing here in the first couple of days until we get some more data points out.”

The benchmark index fell on the last two days of 2014, giving it a monthly decline of 0.4 percent for the first December drop since 2007. That trimmed its third straight annual gain to 11 percent.

Stocks fell earlier today after a report showed manufacturing in the U.S. cooled in December, settling into a more sustainable pace of growth as the year drew to a close.

The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index dropped to a six-month low of 55.5 from 58.7 in November, a report from the Tempe, Arizona-based group showed. The reading in October matched a three-year high.

Fed Policy

Shares rallied last year as accelerating growth fueled optimism in the U.S. economy and an accommodative Federal Reserve policy sent risk-seeking investors into equities.

The S&P 500, Dow and Russell 2000 Index climbed to records last month, while the Nasdaq Composite Index reached its highest level since March 2000. The S&P 500 closed at an all-time high on Dec. 29 for the 53rd time of the year, and the Dow reached 18,000 last week.

In the biggest bull market since the 1990s, the S&P 500 overcame five separate declines of 4 percent or more in 2014. The gauge never fell more than three straight days, a first in data compiled by Bloomberg going back to 2000. It has jumped more than 200 percent from its low in March 2009, including its biggest annual rally since 1997 in 2013.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, a measure of demand for options on the S&P 500, fell 7.3 percent to 17.79 today, after reaching a two-week high Wednesday.

Energy Shares

Six of 10 major groups in the S&P 500 advanced, with utilities, phone and energy companies rising the most. Industrial, consumer and technology companies retreated.

Energy companies fluctuated with the price of crude before climbing at the end of the day. West Texas Intermediate fell 1.1 percent after rallying almost 3.5 percent earlier. Range Resources added 3.7 percent, the most in the S&P 500, and EQT surged 2.4 percent.