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By Alex Veiga, The Associated Press
Wall Street closed out a dismal, turbulent year for stocks on a bright note Monday, but still finished 2018 with the worst showing in a decade.
After setting a series of records through the late summer and early fall, major U.S. indexes fell sharply after early October, leaving them all in the red for the year.
The S&P 500 index, the market’s main benchmark, finished the year with a loss of 6.2 percent. The last time the index fell for the year was in 2008 during the financial crisis. The S&P 500 also posted tiny losses in 2011 and 2015, but eked out small gains in both years once dividends were included.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 5.6 percent. The Nasdaq composite sank 12.2 percent.
“This has really been a challenging year for investors,” said Jeff Kravetz, regional investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “This was really the year that market volatility returned with a vengeance.”
Investors grew worried that the testy U.S.-China trade dispute and higher interest rates would slow the economy, hurting corporate profits. A slowing U.S. housing market and forecasts of weaker global growth in 2019 stoked traders’ unease.
“For markets to move higher next year, we’re going to have to resolve those issues,” Kravetz said.
On Monday, the S&P 500 index rose 21.11 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,506.85. The Dow gained 265.06 points, or 1.2 percent, to 23,327.46. The Nasdaq added 50.76 points, or 0.8 percent, to 6,635.28. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 10.64 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,348.56.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.68 percent from 2.73 percent late Friday. The yield started off the year at 2.41 percent.
Health care stocks paved the way for Monday’s modest gains. The sector ended the year with a 4.7 percent increase, to lead all other sectors in the S&P 500. Utilities were the only other sector to eke out an annual gain, adding 0.5 percent.
Technology companies, a big driver of the market’s gains before things deteriorated in October, ended the year with a 1.6 percent loss. Three of the five so-called “FAANG” stocks — Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google parent Alphabet — ended 2018 lower. Amazon rose 28.4 percent, while Netflix jumped 39.4 percent.
Energy companies fared the worst, plunging 20.5 percent for the year, as the price of U.S. crude oil tumbled around 40 percent from a four-year peak of $76 a barrel in October.
On Monday, benchmark U.S. crude oil inched up 0.2 percent to settle at $45.41 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the benchmark for international prices, gained 1.1 percent to $53.80 a barrel in London.
Trading will be closed Tuesday for New Year’s Day.
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