Stocks close best year since 2013; S&P 500 up 28.9%

Stocks are closing out their best year since 2013 led by huge gains in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P 500 index soared 28.9 percent for the year. Major indexes ended slightly higher Tuesday after spending most of the day wavering between small gains and losses. Technology and health care stocks led the gainers.

The S&P 500 rose 9 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,230. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 76 points, or 9.3 percent, to 28,538. The Nasdaq rose 26 points, or 0.3 percent, to 8,972. Bond prices fell, sending yields higher. The yield on the 10year Treasury note rose to 1.92 percent.

The market’s trajectory to a strong finish for the year began in October as stocks emerged from a latesummer slump caused by fears that the U.S. economy could be headed for a recession. Those concerns eased as investors drew encouragement from surprisingly good thirdquarter corporate earnings, a third interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve and other data showing the economy was not slowing as much as economists had feared.

A truce in the 17month U.S.China trade war helped keep investors in a buying mood through the end of the year. Washington and Beijing announced in December they reached an agreement over a “Phase 1” trade deal that calls for the U.S. to reduce tariffs and China to buy larger quantities of U.S. farm products.

The S&P 500 was down less than 0.1 percent as of 2:38 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 32 points, or 0.1 percent, to 28,429. The index is up 21.9 percent this year.

The Nasdaq composite rose 0.1 percent. The index, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, is on pace for a fullyear gain of 35 percent.

Smaller company stocks fared better than the rest of the market, sending the Russell 2000 index 0.5 percent higher. The Russell is on pace to end the year with a 24 percent gain.

Shares in McDermott International slumped 12.2 percent after The Wall Street Journal reported that the engineering company is considering filing for bankruptcy. Health care sector stocks accounted for a big slice of the selling Tuesday, with shares in several health insurers moving lower. Anthem slid 1.5 percent Humana dropped 0.6 percent.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10year Treasury note rose to 1.92 percent from 1.89 percent late Thursday.

The S&P 500 has set record highs 35 times this year, up from 19 last year. The benchmark index closed above 3,000 points for the first time in September. The Dow, which climbed above the 28,000 mark for the first time in November, has set 22 record highs this year, eclipsing the 15 it set in 2018. The Nasdaq, which closed above 9,000 for the first time in late December, has marked 31 new highs this year, beating last year’s 16 times.

Technology stocks have helped power the broader market’s gains this year.

Tech is on track to finish 2019 with a gain of about 47.5 percent, well ahead of the other 10 sectors in the S&P 500.

Financial sector stocks, especially big banks, posted strong gains in 2019, despite a sharp pullback in interest rates.

The sector is up 28.8 percent for the year, while JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup are each up over 40 percent.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil lost 57 cents to $61.11 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 65 cents to $66.02 per barrel.

The price of gold rose $4.70 to $1,523.30 per ounce.