Financial Markets Up 24% As 2023 Ends

The S&P 500 closed out 2023 with a gain of more than 24%, and the Dow finished near a record high, as easing inflation, a resilient economy, and the prospect of lower interest rates buoyed investors, particularly in the last two months of the year, Damian J. Troise reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Stocks closed Friday with modest losses.

Stocks closed Friday with modest losses. The S&P 500 slipped 13.52 points, or 0.3%, to 4,769.83. That is still just 0.6% shy of an all-time high set in January of 2022 and it still left the benchmark index with a rare ninth consecutive week of gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20.56 points, or 0.1%, to 37,689.54 after setting a record Thursday.

The broader market’s gains were driven largely by the so-called Magnificent 7 companies, which include Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta Platforms, and Tesla.

They accounted for about two-thirds of the gains in the S&P 500 this year, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Nvidia led the group with a gain of about 239%. Most major indices were able to erase their losses from a dismal 2022. Smaller company stocks had a late rally but managed to erase the bulk of their losses from last year. The Russell 2000 index finished 2023 with a 15.1% gain after falling 21.6% in 2022, Charles Sheehan also reported for AP.

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