Markets end 2018 with one-day gains after worst year since 2008

Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Despite posting gains to close out the year Monday the stock markets experienced their worst annual loss in 10 years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 265.06 points, or 1.15 percent, at the end of trading Monday, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both rose 0.85 percent, but all three indexes were down for 2018.

On the year the Dow fell 5.6 percent, the S&P 500 was down 6.2 percent and the Nasdaq fell 4 percent, CNN reported.

December was one of the worst months as the S&P 500 lost 9 percent and the Dow fell 8.7 percent, including a seven-day stretch in which the Dow fell by 350 points or more six times.

Both indexes recorded their worst December performance since the Great Depression in 1931 and worst single monthly loss since February 2009, according to CNBC.

Monday's minor gains were spurred by optimism regarding trade relations between the United States and China, which was responsible for losses throughout the year. President Donald Trump tweeted over the weekend that he had a "very good" call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"Deal is moving along very well. If made, it will be very comprehensive, covering all subjects, areas and points of dispute. Big progress being made!" Trump wrote.

In addition to China tensions, regular increases in the Federal Reserve's interest rate and concerns of a depression left investors wary to purchase stocks for much of the year.

The year as a whole was marked by extreme volatility, as the Dow swung by 1,000 points in a single session five times in 2018.

John Stoltzfus, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer Asset Management, told investors to expect more volatility, but hopefully more gains in his 2019 outlook report, according to USA Today.

"Barring an appearance of a 'black swan' event, or the shock of a bolt from the blue, the worst of the declines experienced by stocks in 2018 are behind us," he said.

Stoltzfus predicted the S&P 500 in particular will bounce back 20 percent above current levels next year.

Will Geisdorf, an analyst at Ned Davis Research, however, told clients to reduce their stock holdings to just 40 percent of their portfolios, adding the market bounce "has not changed the [firm's] bearish view."