Stocks Fell For Fifth Day

U.S. stocks fell for a fifth session on Tuesday as data showed the pace of growth in the U.S. service sector had slowed and oil prices fell further. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 130.01 points, or 0.74%, to 17,371.64. the S&P 500 lost 17.97 points, or 0.89%, to 2,002.61. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 59.84 points, or 1.29%, to 4,592.74.

Service industries settled into a more moderate rate of growth in December, putting the U.S. economic expansion on an even keel heading into 2015. The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index fell to a six-month low of 56.2 from a November reading of 59.3 that was the second-highest since 2005, the Tempe, Arizona-based group’s report showed today.

The crude-oil collapse continued unabated Tuesday, with the U.S. benchmark closing below $48 a barrel for the first time since April 2009. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude for delivery in February fell $2.11, or 4.2%, to close at $47.93 a barrel.

President Obama said Tuesday that he would nominate the former head of one of Hawaii’s largest banks to serve
on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, following criticism from some lawmakers about the lack of community banking experience among the central bank’s leaders.

The White House says President Barack Obama would veto legislation approving construction of the long-stalled
Keystone XL oil pipeline.

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