The Dow Jones Industrial Average's yearly gain is in the books: a rise of 1,149.46 points, or 11.02%—its second annual rise in a row and fourth in the past five.
On Friday, it was a quiet ending to a positive but bumpy year, as the Dow closed up 7.80 points, or 0.07%, at 11577.51. Almost half of the 2010 climb came in the year's final month; the index rose 5.2% in December.
The Dow came close to ending 2010 at a fresh closing high for the year, if it had closed above 11585.38, it would have reached its highest close since August 2008.
The Nasdaq Composite shed 10.11, or 0.4%, to 2652.87, leaving it with a 17% gain for the year. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index edged down 0.24, or 0.02%, to 1257.64 on Friday, the S&P 500 Index rose 13 percent in 2010, bringing the advance since March 2009 to 86%.
While 2010 was positive for stocks, it was anything but smooth. Investors were spooked by events such as the May 6 "flash crash" and ongoing worries over the financial health of several euro-zone governments. A new $600 billion stimulus plan from the Federal Reserve and improving economic data helped the market recover from a summer slump, with stocks ultimately reaching highs not seen since before the fall of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
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