Stock Market Watch

S&P 500 Ends the Year Marginally Lower; Dow Jones Posts Gains

by ·


Stocks slipped in the final trading session of the year on Friday, pushing the S&P 500 into negative territory for the year. The Dow Jones, meanwhile, posted gains for the year.

For 2011, the Dow Jones rose 5.53%, the S&P 500 fell 0.04%, and the Nasdaq fell 1.8%. 2011 was a mixed year for U.S. equity markets. All three major indexes extended their gains from 2010 in the first half of 2011. However, worries about the euro zone debt crisis sparked a sell-off in global markets in August. Stocks remained under pressure from the euro zone debt crisis for the remainder of the year.


Looking ahead, investors will remain focused on developments in the euro zone. Investors will also look for signs of growth in the global economy. In recent weeks, data released in the U.S. has indicated that the economy is strengthening. However, the euro zone is most likely headed into a recession in the first half of 2012. Meanwhile, growth has also slowed down in China recently.

In the final trading session of 2011, all three major indexes ended sharply lower. The Dow Jones ended the day 0.57% lower at 12,217.56, the S&P 500 ended the day 0.43% lower at 1,257.60, and the Nasdaq ended the day 0.33% lower at 2,605.15.

Industrials and Conglomerates were the worst performers in the S&P 500 in Friday’s trading session. Industrials ended the day 0.35% lower, while Conglomerates ended the day 0.41% lower. Utilities ended the day 0.34% lower. Basic Materials stocks ended the day 0.36% higher, while Energy stocks ended the day 0.06% higher.

Among the major gainers and losers on Friday were Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), which ended the day 1.83% higher at $5.56, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), which ended the day 1.22% lower at $24.25, and General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), which ended the day 0.89% lower at $17.91.

More Posts by this author

edliston
Post Written By: Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.


Tags:

Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

You may also like...