All three market indexes finish 2018 in the red

U.S. markets trimmed 2018 losses in a Monday rally, but it was not enough to prevent the worst yearly decline for stocks since 2008.

All three major indexes finished 2018 in the red during the finale of a tumultuous year. The Dow Jones industrial average closed the last day of 2018 at 23,32.467, up 265.06 points, or 1.1 percent, on the day. The Dow finished at negative 5.97 percent for the year.

The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index ended Monday at 2,506.85, up 21.11 points, or 0.85 percent. It closed 2018 down 6.24 percent on the year.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index ended the year at 6,635.28, despite a 50.76-point gain, about 0.77 percent. The Nasdaq finished down 4.38 percent for the year.

Monday’s early gains came as reports surfaced that the Trump administration and China were making progress on trade talks. But the markets whipsawed during afternoon hours as a broad set of concerns remained, including a grim manufacturing report out of China, slowing global economic growth, rising U.S. interest rates and a decline in oil prices.

“The markets were troubled all year long and damaged by the trade war and by the apparent economic slowdown,” said John Kilduff of Again Capital. “That was reinforced last night with Chinese manufacturing numbers showing a contraction.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/markets-stage-late-rally-but-2018-decline-still-sets-records/2018/12/31/0ddf9dc8-0d32-11e9-8938-5898adc28fa2_story.html?utm_term=.307cdd8f875b&wpisrc=al_news__alert-economy--alert-national&wpmk=1