US stocks start year with loss STOCKS kicked off 2014 with a loss, the first time since 2008 that stocks declined in the first trading session of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 135.31 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 16441.35. On Tuesday, the Dow rose 72 points, or 0.4 per cent, to close out 2013 at an all-time high. It finished with an annual gain of 27 per cent, the best since it climbed 33 per cent in 1995. The market was closed Wednesday for New Year's Day.