Wall Street closes lower as energy stocks fall

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) - Wall Street closed in negative territory Thursday as major American energy companies finished in the decline.

The Dow fell 72 points to end the day at 19,732, the S&P 500 lost eight points to 2,263 and the Nasdaq shaved 15 points to finish the day at 5,540.

ExxonMobil saw its shares fall 1.8 percent, while oil and gas exploration and production company, Chesapeake Energy, slumped 5.2 percent.

Markets and investors are now focused on President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration Friday when he will deliver his first speech as president.