U.S. Stocks End 2023 with Slight Declines; Nasdaq Surges 43%
By Reuters
On Friday, the three major U.S. stock indexes closed out 2023 with slight declines. The Nasdaq rose 43.4% for the whole year, marking its biggest annual gain since 2003.
The Dow ended 2023 up 13.7%, the S&P 500 up 24.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite soared over 43%. The Nasdaq outperformed the broader market as large technology stocks rebounded and artificial intelligence concept stocks gained popularity.
In Friday’s trading, the Dow dropped 0.05% to close at 37689.54 points, the Nasdaq fell 0.56% to 15011.35 points, and the S&P 500 dropped 0.28% to 4769.83 points. This marked the ninth consecutive week of gains for all three indexes.
In European markets, major stock indexes closed higher, with Germany’s DAX rising 0.3%, Britain’s FTSE 100 up 0.14%, France’s CAC 40 up 0.11%, and Europe’s Stoxx 50 gaining 0.16%.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.22%, Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index declined 0.43%, and Vietnam’s VN30 Index rose 0.26%.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures a basket of major currencies, rose 0.16%.
In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin fell over 1.5% to $41,919.20, while Ethereum dropped over 2% to $2,296.67.
Gold futures closed down 0.56% at $2,071.80 per ounce, with a cumulative increase of 13.45% in 2023.
WTI crude oil futures for February 2024 fell 0.17% to $71.65 per barrel, and Brent crude oil futures also decreased 0.14% to $77.04 per barrel.
In other markets, London copper fell 0.68%, London nickel declined 0.38%, London zinc rose over 1%, and London aluminum gained 0.57%.
In macro news, business activity in the Chicago area declined sharply in December, falling back after an unexpected gain the previous month. Additionally, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Summers warned investors of underestimating inflation risks and declared it too early to expect a “soft landing.”
The U.S. repo benchmark interest rate rose to a record high and the financing market experienced significant volatility at the end of the year.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the world‘s population will reach close to 8.02 billion on New Year’s Day 2024.
In individual stock news, U.S. chipmaker stocks recorded their best annual performances since 2009, with Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices leading the way. Additionally, Apple is expected to release the first head-mounted display device Apple Vision Pro in 2024, while Goldman Sachs retained its position as the top M&A advisory firm for the seventh consecutive year.
Finally, Faraday Future received a notice from the Nasdaq Exchange for failing to meet the listing regulations of a minimum closing price of $1.
The original Chinese article was first published on Zhitong Finance, a news app, and provides a comprehensive overview of the financial markets in the U.S., Europe, Asia-Pacific, foreign exchange, cryptocurrency, commodities, macro news, and individual stock news.