Tuesday saw a dip in U.S. stocks, closing out what has been another extraordinary year on Wall Street. A surge in interest for artificial intelligence, alongside a surprisingly strong U.S. economy and the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cuts, helped drive major stock indexes to numerous record highs.
The S&P 500 celebrated another year of impressive double-digit gains, climbing 23.3% to wrap up the year at 5,881.63. This large-cap index continued its upward trend, following last year’s growth of over 24%. It’s noteworthy that this marks the best two-year stretch for the index since 1998, based on data from Dow Jones Market Data.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced a 12.9% increase this year, closing at 42,544.22. This blue-chip index enjoyed its largest annual percentage rise since 2023.
The Nasdaq Composite wasn’t to be outdone, advancing 28.6% in 2024 to end at 19,310.79. Over the past two years, it surged by an astounding 84.5%, securing its most robust two-year performance since the 2019-2020 period.
On Tuesday, however, the Nasdaq dipped by 0.9%, marking its fourth consecutive loss—its longest losing streak in over a month. The S&P 500 slipped by 0.4%, while the Dow just barely fell, ending less than 0.1% lower, as indicated by FactSet data.
December wasn’t kind to the markets, as the S&P 500 fell 2.5%, enduring its worst month since April. The Dow had an even tougher December, dropping 5.3%, which marked its steepest monthly decline since September 2022, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
