U.S. stocks closed slightly lower Tuesday on a day of light trading as investors returned from the Christmas holiday.

Technology stocks and banks accounted for most of the losses, outweighing gains by energy companies and retailers. Small-company stocks rose more than the rest of the market.

On Tuesday:

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 2.84 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,680.50.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 7.85 points, or 0.03 percent, to 24,746.21.

The Nasdaq lost 23.71 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,936.25.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 1.30 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,544.23.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is up 441.67 points, or 19.7 percent.

The Dow is up 4,983.61 points, or 25.2 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 1,553.13 points, or 28.9 percent.

The Russell 2000 is up 187.10 points, or 13.8 percent.