The Real Most Active - NYSE.(A)(The Real Most Active - NYSE)

The Real Most Active

Light early gains turned into a moderate loss for the Dow on the last trading day of the year.

The blue chip index lost 81.91 points, or 0.8%, to 10,786.85. It sank 6.2% for the year, its first loss since 1990. Volume edged up 0.2% to 1.04 billion shares. The S&P 500 sank 1%. It dropped 10.1% for the year.

While techs continued their yearlong swoon, some of the year's winners also took a dive Friday.

Downey Financial slid

4 1/8 to 55 on double normal trade. The savings and loan firm remains in a strong uptrend. Cambrex fell 2 11/16 to 45 1/4, also on two times its 50-day average volume. The pharmaceutical and diversified products company is up 44% since hitting a new low in September.

Hillenbrand Industries, still recovering from its 1999 nadir, slid 4 1/8 to 51 1/2 on twice its typical trade. The funeral services group was the worst nontech performer Friday after leading the market higher Thursday. Recently hotgas utilities also cooled off, led by Oneok, which fell 2 7/16 to 48 1/8 on nearly twice its usual volume.