Wall Street rose on the last day of 2018, marking the end of the worst year for major US sharemarkets for a decade.
The Dow was up 222.16 points, or 0.96%, to 23,284.56, the S&P 500 added 16.83 points, or 0.68%, to 2,502.57 and the Nasdaq rose 45.85 points, or 0.7%, to 6,630.3.
The S&P 500 and the Dow logged their worst monthly declines since February 2009 and their worst December performances since 1931.
The Nasdaq Composite fell into bear-market territory earlier this month and saw its worst December since 2002.
For the year, the S&P 500 fell 6.2%, the Dow dropped 5.6% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped a modest 3.9% which resulted from the 14% plus slide in the final quarter (and 20% plus from the peak).
It was the worst annual performance for all three since 2008.
Energy, materials, communication services, industrials, and financials were the biggest percentage losers of 2018, down between 15% and 21% from the beginning of the year.
The 20.9% drop of energy stocks in 2018 was largely attributable to the 38% slump in crude oil prices since early October.
December was a rough a month for US shares. The S&P 500 fell more than 10%, the worst December since the Great Depression, the Nasdaq lost 10.8% and the Dow fell 9.68%.
Apple shares lost 8.4% for the year and more than 31% for the December quarter.
China’s Shanghai Composite fell 24.6% in 2018, the biggest yearly fall since 2008, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index shed 13.6% for its biggest fall since 2011. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 12.1%, for its biggest fall since 2008.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 fell 13.2% for 2018, its biggest decline since 2008. The London market saw the Footsie shed 12.48% in value.
