DOW- Stocks End 2010 with Double-Digit Gains

Dow

11,577.51

+7.80

+0.07%

By: Abby Schultz

Stocks ended a notch below record two-year highs with solid double-digit gains for the year after a quiet New Year's eve session that ended with the major indexes narrowly mixed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,149.46 points in 2010, or 11.02 percent, closing just 7.87 points shy of its closing high of 11,585.38 for the year, hit on Dec. 29. The blue-chip index is up 31.92 percent since 2008. For Friday, the Dow gained 7.80 points or 0.07 percent.


The S&P 500 rose 142.54 points or 12.78 percent in 2010. The broad market index rose 39.23 percent since 2008. On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 0.24 points, or 0.02 percent.

The Nasdaq rose 383.72 points, or 16.9 percent this year. The tech-heavy index is up 68.2 percent since 2008. On Friday, the Nasdaq fell 10.11 points, or 0.4 percent.

Small cap stocks, meanwhile, have surged this year. The Russell 2000 index rose 158.26 points, or 25.3 percent in 2010. Since 2008, the index is up 56.9 percent.

The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, rose to 18.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange was light, as it has been all week, with 1.98 billion shares trading on the consolidated tape, 48 percent of the average daily volume in December. Today's volume was also the lightest for a full day this year. On the NYSE floor, 586 million shares changed hands.

Investors hoped to lock in the year's strong gains in the final trading day of 2010. As of the close Thursday, the Dow was up 5.12 percent for December and nearly 11 percent for the year-to-date. The S&P 500 was up 6.5 percent for the month, and 12.8 percent for the year-to-date. The Nasdaq rose 6.6 percent for December, and 17.4 percent for the year-to-date.

December was the best month for the Dow since December 2003, the best for the S&P 500 since December 1991, and the best for the Nasdaq since December 1999.