Although stocks have provided investors with solid returns in 2024, major U.S. equities indexes moved lower on the final trading day of the year, extending a string of post-Christmas losses.

The S&P 500 gave back morning gains to end the New Year's Eve session down 0.4%. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.9% as investors bid farewell to a strong year in the tech sector, while the Dow slipped less than 0.1%.

Tesla (TSLA) shares dropped 3.3%, losing the most of any S&P 500 stock. The carmaker is set to release quarterly delivery figures as the new market year gets underway on Thursday. Although analysts expect Tesla to post a record for fourth-quarter deliveries, the full-year total would still fall short of guidance even if the results match the lofty consensus expectations. While the stock surged after the presidential election as analysts envisioned how Tesla could benefit as CEO Elon Musk begins a role in the incoming administration, the shares lost ground in the final few sessions of the year.

Although Nvidia (NVDA) stock clocked an impressive gain of more than 170% in 2024, shares of the semiconductor behemoth fell 2.3% in the year's final session. Even so, analysts maintain upbeat long-term expectations for the chipmaker, forecasting robust growth driven by the artificial intelligence (AI), gaming, and enterprise markets.

Shares of Texas-based power generator NRG Energy (NRG) sank 2.1%. The downturn reversed a small portion of the gains posted by the stock throughout the year as investors evaluated opportunities for utilities to provide electricity for energy-intensive AI data centers. Despite Tuesday's drop, NRG stock ended with a 2024 gain of nearly 75%.

Moderna (MRNA) shares jumped 5.6%, logging the best daily performance in the S&P 500 in 2024's closing session. Barron's highlighted the vaccine maker's stock as a top pick for the coming year, indicating the shares appear undervalued following year-to-date declines of more than 50%. Although analysts remain concerned about Moderna's elevated research and development (R&D) spending, the potential implementation of vaccines against cytomegalovirus and personalized cancer vaccines could eventually provide a sales boost.

Upbeat data from China's manufacturing sector helped drive an uptick in crude oil futures prices on Tuesday, contributing to gains for a number of oil and gas stocks. Shares of exploration and production firm APA Corp. (APA) added 3.0%, while shares of refiner Marathon Petroleum (MPC) were up 2.9%.

Shares of frozen potato distributor Lamb Weston (LW) gained 2.9%. The stock saw significant volatility in the final few sessions of 2024 as activist investor Jana Partners amplified its push for changes to the company by collaborating with another former company executive. Lamb Weston installed a new CEO earlier this month amid pressure from Jana after reporting a quarterly loss and lowering its full-year outlook.