Stocks end lower as investors fret about 'fiscal cliff'

12 hrs.

JeeYeon Park , CNBC

Stocks ended in negative territory in a quiet, shortened trading session Monday, extending declines from the previous session, amid ongoing worries over the looming "fiscal cliff."?

Markets will be closed on Tuesday for Christmas day.?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended lower, led by Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard.?

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also finished in the red. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded above 18.

Among key S&P sectors, energy and utilities closed lower, while materials finished higher.?

"I think it's amazing how well the market's held up," said Hank Smith, chief investment officer at the Haverford Trust. "Use any type of correction of pullback as an opportunity to buy because this is not about fundamentals?this is strictly about politics and political ineptitude and it will be very passing and it will not have long-term implications." (Read More: Hunting for Yield? Here's One Place You Can Look)

With just four more trading days left in 2012, ongoing worries over the "fiscal cliff"?$600 billion in tax hikes and automatic spending cuts that kick in on January 1?kept investors on edge. With the House of Representatives and the Senate on their Christmas break and President Obama celebrating the Christmas holiday in Hawaii, talks will likely only resume after December 25.

"With no Plan B and the gulf between the parties as wide as ever, there is little to cheer this holiday season. The optimism that had seen the market rally strongly over the last few weeks is diminishing rapidly amid signs that a deal is as far away as ever," said Rebecca O'Keeffe, head of investment at Interactive Investor. (Read More: Lawmakers: We're Likely to Go Over the 'Fiscal Cliff')

Still, the S&P 500 is on track for its best yearly performance since 2009 with a gain of 13.7 percent year-to-date.

Microsoft slipped after the New York Times reported that sales of the tech giant's new Windows 8 operating system had disappointed PC makers as well as analysts.

JCPenney rose after Oppenheimer said the retailer's promotions are showing evidence of success. The brokerage has an "outperform" rating on the stock and a $30 price target. Still, shares of the company is down more than 40 percent year to date.?

Facebook gained after Needham raised its price target on the social-networking giant to $33 from $25.?

Research In Motion declined after Exane BNP Paribas cut its target price on the BlackBerry maker to $5.50 from $8.30.?

Herbalife fell for the ninth-straight session after the company said it expects to exceed its previously-announced buyback authorization guidance.?

European shares were range-bound with light volumes in a truncated day of trading. Major markets such as Germany, Switzerland and Italy were closed.?

Coming Up This Week:

• MONDAY: Market closes at 1?p.m.?ET
• TUESDAY: Markets closed for Christmas
  
• WEDNESDAY: Case-Shiller homeprice index
  
• THURSDAY: Jobless claims, new home sales, consumer confidence
  
• FRIDAY: ?Pending home sales
  

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/stocks-end-lower-shortened-session-cliff-woes-weigh-1C7657753

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