Stocks Finished Strong Year on Down Note

U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, but closed out a third straight year of double-digit gains for the S&P 500, as crude oil prices continued their descent. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 160.00 points, or 0.89 percent, to 17,823.07. The S&P 500 lost 21.45 points, or 1.03 percent, to 2,058.90. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 41.39 points, or 0.87 percent, to 4,736.05.

Oil prices continued to decline on Wednesday as investors digested a government report showing slowly growing demand and an increasing supply glut at the U.S. oil storage hub at Cushing, Oklahoma. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February fell 85 cents, or 1.6%, to settle at $53.27 a barrel.

Drivers in the U.S. may save as much as $75 billion at gasoline pumps in 2015 after a yearlong rout in crude oil sent prices tumbling, AAA said today.

Verso Paper said Wednesday that it has agreed to sell two paper mills in order to gain U.S. approval for its $1.4 billion acquisition of privately held specialty paper maker NewPage Holdings.