Rising and falling stocks were about even on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was just 2.2 billion shares, about half of the recent daily average.
BY BERNARD CONDON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — The stock market is ending a tumultuous year right where it started.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed 2011 a fraction of a point below where it started the year. The S&P closed at 1,257.60, up 5.42 points, or 0.4 percent. It ended 2010 at nearly the exact same level, at 1,257.64. Its loss for the year is 0.04 point.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 69 points, or 0.6 percent, at 12,218. The Dow is up 5.5 percent for the year. The Nasdaq composite index fell 9 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,605. It lost 1.8 percent for the year.
McDonald’s Corp. was the biggest winner in the Dow this year with a gain of 31 percent. Bank of America Corp. was the worst, down 58 percent.
The conventional wisdom is the more risk, the greater the potential rewards. But the opposite is proving true this year: Investors playing it safe have gained the most.
The most dull and conservative of stocks — utilities — gained 15 percent, the largest gain of the 10 industry sectors in the S&P 500 index. Other winning groups are consumer staples and health care companies, up 11 percent and 10 percent in 2011, respectively.
In Europe, many of the biggest markets ended down for the year. Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 5.6 percent, Germany’s DAX 14.7 percent.
Trading has been quiet this week with many investors away on vacation. Volume on the New York Stock Exchange has been about half of its daily average. Markets will be closed Monday in observance of New Year’s Day.
Rising and falling stocks were about even on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was just 2.2 billion shares, about half of the recent daily average.