Stocks fell on Friday as investors made their final trades in the worst year for the market since 2008.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 168 points, or 0.5%. The S&P 500 fell 0.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.1%.
Friday marked the last day of trading in what has been a painful year for stocks. A volatile bear market, sticky inflation, and aggressive rate hikes from the Federal Reserve have hurt growth and technology stocks. These factors also weigh on investor sentiment.
All three of the major averages are marching toward their worst year since 2008, set to snap a three-year winning streak. The Dow was the best performing index in 2022, down 8.58% through Thursday, while the S&P and tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 19.24% and 33.03%, respectively.
As the calendar year turns the corner, some investors think the pain is far from over, and expect the bear market to continue until a recession hits or the Fed pivots. Other stocks also project to hit new lows before rebounding in the second half of 2023.
“We’re pretty much stuck in neutral right now, because there are more unanswered questions than there are known entities. … We have a lot riding on the upcoming earnings season, when we think about the pressures that happens. is at the margins,” Rebecca Felton, senior market strategist at Riverfront Investment Group, said on “Squawk Box.”
“There are a lot of questions as we head into the new year, but we’re certainly excited to see 2022 come to an end,” Felton added.
Despite annual losses, the Dow is on pace for a 15.65% quarterly gain and is poised to snap a three-quarter losing streak. It’s also on track for its best quarter since the second quarter of 2020. The S&P is up 7.35% and is set to snap three consecutive quarterly losses. The Nasdaq’s fell 0.92%, for the fourth consecutive negative quarter for the first time since 2001.
Communications services stocks in the S&P 500 are down more than 40% for the year and consumer discretionary is down 37.4%, while energy, the positive sector of the large-cap index, has surged nearly 58%.
On the economic front, Chicago PMI data for December is due on Friday. Next week will see a slightly more active slate for economic data, highlighted by the nonfarm payrolls report scheduled for January 6. Financial markets are closed on Monday in observance of the New Year holiday. Year.
– Gabriel Cortes contributed reporting
Correction: A chart in this story has been updated to show the correct year-to-date decline for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
