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"It's the year I'd like to forget because of all the tumult in the markets"
- Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Advantage Funds
U.S. banks were closed on Monday in observance of New Year's Day.
U.S. stocks edged lower on the last trading day of 2011. Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 0.43%, or 5.42 points, to 1,257.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.57%, or 69.48 points, to 12,217.56. The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite fell 0.33%, or 8.59, to 2,605.15.
"It's the year I'd like to forget because of all the tumult in the markets," said Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Advantage Funds in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. "The U.S. data has been looking better but it's not just the matter of the U.S. data but what's the outlook, and investors are still concerned about whether or not economic recovery is losing steam."
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is to announce unemployment rate on Friday. Economists expect unemployment to increase 0.1 percent in December from 8.6 percent in November.