US stocks lower

US stock index futures were slightly lower on Tuesday, suggesting the market's recent trend of slight moves and low volume would continue in the final trading days of the year. For the month of December, the Dow is up 1.2 per cent, the S&P is up 1.1 per cent and the Nasdaq is up 0.3 per cent. For the fourth quarter, the Dow is up 5.8 per cent, the S&P is up 6 per cent and the Nasdaq is up 7 per cent. Both the S&P and Nasdaq are on track for their eighth straight quarterly gain, the longest for the S&P since 1998 and the longest for the Nasdaq since 1996. For 2014, the S&P is up 13 per cent and the Nasdaq is up 15 per cent in the third straight annual gain for both. The Dow is up 8.8 per cent and on track for its sixth straight positive year. Utilities are the strongest sector of the year, up almost 30 per cent, while the energy sector is the weakest, down 8.7 per cent. Futures snapshot at 6:42: S&P 500 e-minis were down 5.25 points, or 0.25 per cent, with 54,368 contracts changing hands. Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 6.75 points, or 0.16 per cent, in volume of 8,402 contracts. Dow e-minis were down 25 points, or 0.14 per cent, with 8,910 contracts changing hands, according to Reuters.