Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

U.S. markets up final day of year

|
|
 
  
Published: Dec. 31, 2008 at 4:20 PM
Advertisement

NEW YORK, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes closed out a wild year on a positive note Wednesday with a final and light trading day.

Good news came early as the government said there were 94,000 fewer first-time claims for unemployment benefits filed in the week ending Dec. 27. Otherwise, there were no major reports on New Year's Eve day with many traders out of town.

By close, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 108.00 points, or 1.25 percent, to 8,776.39. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 1.42 percent, 12.61 points, to 903.25. The Nasdaq composite index gained 26.33 points, 1.7 percent, to 1,577.03.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,651 stocks advanced and 491 declined on a volume of 3.8 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond fell 1 17/32 to yield 2.216 percent.

The dollar rose Wednesday. The euro fell to $1.3981, compared to Tuesday's $1.4074. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose to 90.69 yen, up from Tuesday's 90.30 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average gained 112.39 points to 8,859.56, up 2.09 percent.

In London, the FTSE 100 index gained 0.94 percent, 41.49 points, to 4,434.17.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Business News Stories
1 of 29
FORT LAUDERDALE HOSTS FLEET WEEK
View Caption
Crew members of the USS Kearsarge, Bryane Ingram, Timothy Williams, Curtilious Ingram and Yosuf Hill (l to r) prepare for shore leave shortly after docking at Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on April 30, 2007. The Kearsarge and her crew will participate in Fleet Week USA as part of the McDonalds Air and Sea Show. (UPI Photo/Joe Marino-Bill Cantrell)
fark
Photoshop theme: Books for geniuses (the opposite of the For Dummies series)
Vintage ventriloquism portraits.. pleasant dreams
R.O.U.S.s do exist, and they're ravaging Gough island
SCOTUS to us all: suck it twice
This could be bad news if you have triskaidekaphobia, taphephobia, thanatophobia, placophobia or,...
Boy eats his mom out of house and home because he has an extreme disorder called nom.. nom.. nom...