Stocks slide broadly in a day of light trading

Banks led a broad slide in U.S. stocks Wednesday that more than wiped out gains from the day before.

After an early upward turn, the stock market veered into the red, with the losses accelerating as the day wore on. Basic materials companies, industrials, utilities and energy stocks were among the biggest decliners.

Trading was light ahead of the New Year’s Day holiday. Two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

“Volume is pretty weak, so there’s no aggressive selling taking place,” said Bob Doll, chief equity strategist at Nuveen Asset Management. “It’s more sellers locking in some better gains than they thought they were going to get this year. It’s been a really good year, so letting a little go is just fine.”

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 111.36 points, or 0.6%, to 19,833.68. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slid 18.96 points, or 0.8%, to 2,249.92. The Nasdaq composite, which set a record-high close the day before, sank 48.89 points, or 0.9%, to 5,438.56.

The three major indexes are on pace for a solid gain this year. The Dow is up 13.8%. The S&P 500 is on track for a 10% gain, while the Nasdaq is headed for an 8.6% gain. Small-company stocks are up even more. The Russell 2000 is up 19.8% this year.

Toshiba’s stock plunged 20.4% in Tokyo trading after the company said cost overruns at nuclear power plants in Georgia could force it to take several billion dollars in write-downs. Toshiba said its U.S. subsidiary, Westinghouse Electric had discovered unexpected costs of local labor and materials.

In a week featuring a dearth of major economic or company data, investors got some insight into the U.S. housing market.

A report from the National Assn. of Realtors found that fewer Americans signed contracts to buy homes in November. The group said its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index fell 2.5% to 107.3, the lowest reading since the start of this year.

The slowdown marks a reversal for the housing market, as sales growth has been solid for the past year. Homebuilder stocks closed mostly lower, with William Lyon Homes losing the most: It fell 3.2% to $19.33. Los Angeles-based KB Home fell 1.5% to $16.01.

Nvidia was the biggest decliner in the S&P 500, sliding 6.9% to $109.25 after short seller Citron Research said it expects the chipmaker’s shares, which have tripled in value this year, to fall substantially.

Shares in oil and natural gas drilling companies also declined. Chesapeake Energy sank 4.7% to $7.23. Murphy Oil dropped 2.4% to $32.03. Helmerich & Payne fell 2% to $78.39.

Fred’s dropped 4.8% to $18.68 after a report indicated the drugstore chain has adopted a “poison pill” to discourage an activist investor from interfering with its plan to buy 865 Rite Aid stores. Rite Aid must sell the stores in order to appease antitrust regulators and close its $9.4-billion buyout deal with Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Qualcomm fell 2.2% to $65.75 after antitrust regulators in South Korea fined the company $865 million, saying the chipmaker engaged in unfair sales practices.

Read more: Qualcomm plans to fight $865-million fine levied by South Korean antitrust regulator »

Coach notched the biggest gain in the S&P 500 index, rising 2% to $35.14.

Markets overseas were mostly subdued. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 ended essentially flat. Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.5% to a record-high close. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was flat. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 gained 1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.8%. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.9%.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 16 cents to $54.06 a barrel. Brent crude, used to price international oils, climbed 13 cents to $56.22 a barrel.

Wholesale gasoline rose 2 cents to $1.67 a gallon. Heating oil held steady at $1.70 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose 17 cents, or 4.5%, to $3.93 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.51% from Tuesday’s 2.56%.

In currency trading, the dollar fell to 117.19 yen, down from Tuesday’s 117.45 yen. The euro fell to $1.0407 from $1.0458.

The price of gold rose $2.10 to $1,140.90 an ounce. Silver rose 5 cents to $16.04 an ounce. Copper fell 2 cents to $2.50 a pound.

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UPDATES:

2:10 p.m.: This article was updated with closing prices, context and analyst comment.

9:05 a.m.: This article was updated with market prices, context and analyst comment.

This article was originally published at 6:50 a.m.