The markets closed mixed on a shortened Christmas Eve trading day with the Dow falling 50 points to 17,552 despite rising crude oil prices and lower jobless claims. Nasdaq added 2 points to 5,048.

On the upside

MBIA (NYSE: MBI) amended and restructured its agreement with Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.

Shares of Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) continued rising.

Cowen & Co. upgraded Rovi (Nasdaq: ROVI) from a Market Perform rating to an Outperform rating.

On the downside

Profit taking weighed down shares of EXCO Resources (NYSE: XCO).

Zacks Equity Research recommended Linn Energy (NYSE: LINE) as one of five great value stocks but the stock price fell.

Shares of Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) fell over bankruptcy concerns.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 3 to 2 on the NYSE and by 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 slipped 3 points to 2,060. Bitcoin gained $11 to $452.