05:02 PM EST, 12/27/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes retreated Friday amid declines in certain mega-cap stocks.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.5% to 19,722, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.1% to 5,970.8. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.8% to 42,992.2. Consumer discretionary saw the biggest drop among sectors, while energy was little changed. No sector posted a gain.

Shares of chip-making giant Nvidia ( NVDA ) fell 2.1%, the steepest decline on the Dow. Tech majors Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Apple ( AAPL ) were among the worst performers on the Dow, along with e-commerce giant Amazon.com ( AMZN ) . Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) class A and C shares dropped around 1.5% each, while Meta Platforms (META) dropped 0.6%.

Electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA) saw the biggest decrease on the Nasdaq and the second-biggest on the S&P 500, down 5%. Retail giant Walmart ( WMT ) also closed lower.

For the year so far, the Nasdaq has gained 31%, while the S&P 500 has advanced 25%. The Dow is up 14%. Tuesday will be the last trading day of this year.

"Investor sentiment is high entering 2025 as several of the 2024 positive trends that remain in place were bolstered by November (US presidential) election results, which ignited pro-growth policy expectations," D.A. Davidson said in a Friday note to clients. "This sets up conditions for equity prices to move higher if the US economy sustains growth above 2% and corporate earnings grow above 10%."

The US 10-year yield rose five basis points to 4.63%, while the two-year rate was little changed at 4.33%.

In company news, Lamb Weston ( LW ) shareholder Jana Partners has added Jeff Delapp to its slate of nominees for a potential overhaul of the frozen potato products supplier's board. Lamb Weston ( LW ) shares increased 2.6%, the best performer on the S&P 500.

UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) and Amedisys ( AMED ) agreed to extend the deadline of their proposed merger as the deal faces scrutiny from the US Department of Justice over competition concerns. Amedisys ( AMED ) shares jumped 4.7%, while UnitedHealth ( UNH ) fell 0.2%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.9% to $70.27 a barrel Friday.

Commercial crude stockpiles in the US declined more than projected last week, according to government data. The number of oil rigs in the world's largest economy held steady at 483 in the week ended Friday, data compiled by energy services company Baker Hughes (BKR) showed.

Gold fell 0.8% to $2,632.60 per troy ounce, while silver lost 1.5% to $29.95 per ounce.