S&P 500 Retreats to Start Year Lower for First Time Since 2008

Bloomberg, (03/01) -- U.S. stocks declined, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index starting the year lower for the first time since 2008, after benchmark indexes posted the biggest annual rallies in more than 15 years.

The S&P 500 slid 0.9 percent to 1,832.05 at 4 p.m. in New York for the biggest decline in three weeks. The S&P 500 surged 30 percent in 2013, finishing the year at an all-time high for the first time since 1999. The Dow average climbed 27 percent in 2013 for its best performance since 1995. The first trading session of January has proven profitable for investors over the previous five years, with the index gaining an average of almost 2 percent that day since 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Equity returns will slow this year, Wall Street strategists forecast. The S&P 500 will end 2014 at 1,950, according to the average of 20 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That represents a 5.5 percent gain from the end of 2013.