Wall Street opens mixed on New Year's Eve

• Trading action remains choppy on last day of 2019.
• Major S&P 500 sectors trade little changed after opening bell.

Wall Street's main indexes started the last trading day of 2019 in the negative territory but easily pared early losses as investors opt out to stay on the sidelines ahead of the New Year break. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite were down 0.08% and 0.16%, respectively, while the S&P 500 was up 0.05%.

Six of 11 major S&P 500 sectors are in the positive territory in the early trade with the Materials Index adding 0.2% to lead the winners. On the other hand, the Real Estate index is erasing 0.17%.

Investors will be keeping a close eye on the developments in the Middle East after markets return to action on Thursday. Earlier in the day, Iraqi protestors marched to the US embassy in Baghdad in response to the US' airstrikes in Syria and Iraq. "Iran is orchestrating an attack on the US embassy in Iraq," US President Donald Trump tweeted out. "They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!"