The extended pullback on Wall Street reflected traders cashing in on recent strength, with the major averages closing lower for a fourth straight session even after the Dow and S&P 500 hit record closing highs last Wednesday. Despite the late-year weakness, full-year performance remained strong, as the Nasdaq jumped 20.4%, the S&P 500 climbed 16.4%, and the Dow advanced 13% on the year.

Stocks rebounded quickly after an early April plunge triggered by President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs and later gained further on the back of strength in large-cap tech names, while economic data stayed supportive. On the labor front, the Labor Department reported that initial claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell to 199,000 in the week ended December 27th, down 16,000 from the prior week’s revised 215,000 level, defying expectations for a rise to 220,000.

Biotechnology stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index down by 1.9 percent. Gold stocks were considerably weak amid a slump by the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index falling by 1.4%. Computer hardware, brokerage, networking and semiconductor stocks also saw notable weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

Asia-Pacific stocks turned in a mixed performance. China's Shanghai Composite Index inched up by 0.1% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid by 0.9%. European stocks moved modestly lower on the day. While the German markets were closed on the day, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1% and the French CAC 40 Index slipped by 0.2%.

In the bond market, treasuries moved to the downside over the course of the session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, climbed 3.3 bps to 4.16%.