Lacklustre end to 2015 for traders on Wall Street

Even factoring in dividends, the index eked out a far smaller return than in 2014. The Dow industrials are on track for a 1.6% loss for the year.

"We've gotten pretty spoiled by low volatility and investors got used to it, but that's just not the norm", said Paul Zemsky, head of multi-asset strategies at Voya Investment Management LLC, which oversees $210 billion. "A very unrewarding year".

On Thursday, shares in Europe and Asia posted modest declines, with some markets wrapping up early and others, including those in Germany and Japan, already closed for the Year's holiday.

USA stocks performance has been badly dented by the rout in oil prices, which was at the heart of almost a 25 percent drop in energy equities, according to figures Wednesday from S&P Capital IQ. The S&P 500 index shed seven points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,055. Only the Nasdaq Composite was in positive turf, having risen 6.2 percent. Apple fell more than 4 percent, logging in its first annual loss since 2008. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was the only major US index to rise, gaining 5.7 percent. The stock added $2.12 to $39.67.

The S&P 500 index showed one new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 26 new highs and 61 new lows. The markets recouped most of their lost ground within a few weeks.

"We haven't seen a massive end-of-year rally, which is probably not a good sign" for the start of next year, said Philippe Gijsels, chief strategist at BNP Paribas Fortis.

The consumer discretionary sector .SPLRCD has been the best performer on the S&P, rising 8.89 percent in 2015, led by Netflix's 137 percent increase and Amazon's 120 percent gain. Energy and materials stocks, which have been battered recently as commodities prices sank, rose as oil prices rebounded.

The S&P 500 held more than half a percent lower, in negative territory for 2015 in intraday trade.

ENERGY: Crude oil and natural gas prices rose, recovering some of their losses from the day before. United States light crude was 1.2% higher at $37.04 but down 30% for the year. The economy revved up in the next quarter, growing at an annual rate of 3.9 percent, but slowed to a gain of 2.1 percent in the July-September quarter.

The Nasdaq gained 41.08 points, or 0.8 per cent.

Global stocks were heading towards a sluggish end to the year, with the fall in oil prices hurting currencies of commodity-rich countries.

For the year, Singapore's FTSE Strait Times lost 14.3%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 7.2%.

Gold futures for February delivery settled up 40 cents at $1,060.20 an ounce. Performance throughout the year was marked by changing expectations about when the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates, concerns about a slowdown in emerging markets and the continuing trend of sinking oil prices, which ended the year down 30 percent with USA oil closing at $37 a barrel. The dollar fell to 120.21 yen from 120.55 yen, while the euro fell to $1.0882 from $1.0924.