Today's Market: US Stock Indexes Edge Lower On Final Trading Day of 2017

NEW ORLEANS – U.S. stock indexes edged lower early Friday on the final day of trading for 2017. Losses by technology and energy companies outweighed gains by consumer products and health care stocks. Trading volume was light. Oil prices were headed higher. Despite the early slide, stocks were on track to close the year with strong gains.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,685 as of 11:25 a.m. Eastern Time. The Dow Jones industrial average shed 17 points, or 0.1 percent, to 24,818. The Nasdaq fell 17 points, or 0. percent, to 6,932. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gave up 1 point, or 0.1 percent, to 1,547.

TECHNOLOGY SLIDE: Chipmaker Micron Technology was among the technology sector's big decliners. The stock slid 66 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $41.15.

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NO DEAL: Bonanza Creek Energy slumped 7.8 percent after SandRidge Energy called off its bid to buy the oil and gas company. Bonanza slid $2.34 to $27.34. SandRidge rose 61 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $19.75.

DISAPPOINTING OUTLOOK: Adtran slid 14.7 percent after the networking equipment maker cut its forecasts for the fourth quarter and said revenue in the first quarter will be lower than analysts expected. The stock shed $3.27 to $18.98.

BIG GAINERS: Tobacco companies were moving higher along with other consumer-products companies. Philip Morris International rose $1.16, or 1.1 percent, to $105.97. Altria Group added 72 cents, or 1 percent, to $71.99.

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OIL & GAS: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 39 cents to $60.23 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, gained 21 cents to $66.37 per barrel in London. The price of natural gas continued to rise in response to the harsh winter weather gripping a large swath of the U.S. It gained 9 cents, or 3 percent, to $3 per 1,000 cubic feet.

The increase sent some energy companies higher. Chesapeake Energy added 16 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $4.04.

BOND YIELDS: Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.42 percent from 2.43 percent late Thursday.

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CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 112.54 yen from 112.87 yen on Thursday. The euro strengthened to $1.994 from $1.1952.

BITCOIN: The price of bitcoin was up 0.3 percent to $14,465 as of 9 a.m. ET, according to the tracking site CoinDesk. Bitcoin futures on the Cboe Futures Exchange picked up 5.1 percent to $14,460. The virtual currency has been highly volatile in recent weeks, hitting a record high before sliding sharply last week.

MARKETS OVERSEAS: Major stock indexes in Europe were mixed. Britain's FTSE 100 climbed 0.9 percent, hitting a record on the close of a shortened trading day. Germany's DAX fell 0.5 percent, while France's CAC 40 declined 0.4 percent. In Asia, most markets finished with modest gains. Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 0.1 percent lower, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.2 percent.

-By Alex Veiga, AP Business Writer

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