Stocks finished slightly lower Wednesday as health care companies continued to struggle, the AP reports. Energy companies bucked the downward trend and rose as the price of natural gas surged on the first day of winter.
The Dow Jones industrial average sank 32.66 points, or 0.2%, to 19,941.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gave up 5.58 points, or 0.2%, to 2,265.18. The Nasdaq composite slid 12.51 points, or 0.2%, to 5,471.43. (More stock market stories.)