Stocks Ended Higher on the Final Day of 2020

U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday on the final day of 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 196.92 points, or 0.65%, to 30,606.48. The S&P 500 added 24.03 points, or 0.64%, to 3,756.07. The Nasdaq Composite gained 18.28 points, or 0.14%, to 12,888.28. The Dow added 1.4% this week, 3.3% this month, 10.2% in the fourth quarter and 7.3% in 2020. The S&P 500 rose 1.4% this week, 3.7% in December, 11.7% in the fourth quarter and gained 16.3% this year. The Nasdaq rose 0.7% this week, 5.7% in December, 15.7% this quarter, and 43.6% this year.

Oil futures ended 2020 on a positive note, but suffered a hefty yearly fall, only partially recovering from the hit to crude demand from the COVID-19 pandemic. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery rose 12 cents, or 0.3%, to end at $48.52 a barrel. March Brent crude rose 17 cents, or 0.3%, to close at $51.80 a barrel. For the year, WTI fell 20.5% and Brent crude fell 21.5%.