Stocks Opened Lower on Last Day of Year

U.S. stocks opened lower on Thursday as oil prices slipped further to end the year in steep losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 104.02 points, or 0.59%, to 17,499.85. The S&P 500 shed 10.91 points, or 0.53%, to 2,052.45. The Nasdaq Composite was down 24.51 points, or 0.48%, to 5,041.33.

More Americans requested unemployment benefits last week, but the level remains near historic lows in a positive sign for the job market. Applications for jobless aid jumped 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 287,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The less volatile 4-week average climbed 4,500 to 277,000.

Oil prices headed for a second year of steep losses in their last trading hours of 2015 as record OPEC supply created an unprecedented global glut that may take another year to clear. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures traded 32 cents lower at $36.28 a barrel at 1357 GMT on Thursday and Brent was 19 cents lower at $36.27 a barrel.

Hedge fund billionaire Steven A. Cohen’s investment firm reported Wednesday a 5.3% stake in the biotech firm Chimerix Inc., just days after its shares plunged about 80% in one day after reporting an unsuccessful late-stage drug trial.