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* S&P 500 gives an annual return of 16.3%
* Nasdaq gains 43.6% on the year
* Unemployed weekly claims fall for the second straight week (Updates by size, market scope, Tesla performance)
NEW YORK, Dec 31 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks ended a turbulent year with the Dow and S&P 500 at charts, as three major U.S. equities indexes noted a hard-to-surprise annual gain despite an economy fueled by the COVID-19 virus as investors viewed the post-pandemic world.
In a year that marked the end of the longest recorded bull market when government locks hit the global economy by a pandemic, rations fell back, with the S&P 500 climbing more than 66% from the March 23 low, and as a result the bear market was the shortest. in history.
The gains, which the Dow and S&P put on record highs to close out of the year and the Nasdaq to a record earlier in the week, were partly driven by fiscal and monetary stimulus sent involved to support the economic outflow of coronavirus production, as well as vaccine advancement.
For the year, the S&P 500 gained 16.3%, the Dow 7.2% and the Nasdaq 43.6%, marking the biggest annual gain for the tech-heavy record since 2009.
“For broad indexes, this is a bullish year despite the realities of the real world,” said Mike Zigmont, head of research and trading at Harvest Volatility Management.
“It really feels to me how investors have decided that the world has changed forever, the pandemic was coronavirus pandemic and now investors have decided who wins and who loses and who moves on. ”
However, Thursday ‘s data was a reminder that the economy is still going a long way as weekly jobless claims, although they were down for a second straight week to 787,000, are still well above the peak of the recession. 2007-2009.
Tech and consumer choice were the best performing sectors of the year, and energy, laggard for the past decade, was again the weakest of the 11 key sectors. S&P on the year on track to worst annual performance ever.
Mega-cap companies like Amazon and Apple helped build the wider S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, as well as benefits in names that have benefited from the “stay at home” environment, such as an online retailer ETSY Inc and PayPal digital payment platform.
Shares of Tesla rose to the S&P index on December 21, a staggering 743% on the year.
For the session the Dow Jones industrial average rose 196.92 points, or 0.65%, to 30,606.48, the S&P 500 gained 24.03 points, or 0.64%, to 3,756.07 and the Nasdaq Composite added 18.28 points, or 0.14%, to 12,888.28.
The top three indices gained ground, with the Dow and S&P 500 picking up steam in the final minutes of the session to get the highest levels.
Near-term expectations of larger stimulus checks fell after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked a swift vote Wednesday to support President Donald Trump to increase COVID-19 relief checks to $ 2,000 from $ 600.
Risk funds could lift the rally off the March lows, adding to gains in November following a U.S. election that investors saw as seeming to lead to a political breakdown and optimism around vaccination approval, but the moment sparked concerns about new fiscal stimulus. and a new, infectious version of COVID-19 spreading across the globe.
All eyes are on the two U.S. Senate races in Georgia next week that will decide control of the chamber and affect Democratic President Joe Biden’s ability to implement his agenda.
U.S. exchanges volume was 9.27 billion shares, compared to an average of 10.81 billion for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
Taking forward higher-than-expected NYSE declines with a 1.44-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.13-to-1 ratio favored rejection.
The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and no new levels; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 131 new highs and 21 new lows.
Additional commentary by Stephen Culp; edited by Diane Craft