Stock Markets Hit High in 2014 as Bull Run Endured

An accelerating United States economy trumped problems overseas to lift the stock market to new highs in 2014.

Despite losses for the day in light pre-holiday trading, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index closed on Wednesday with a gain of 11.39 percent for 2014 — 13.68 percent when reinvested dividends are included. It was the third consecutive year that the market benchmark has risen by more than 10 percent.

Other market measures also ended the year on a strong note. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 7.52 percent for 2014, while the Nasdaq composite index ended up 13.4 percent.

Can the party in American stocks keep going in 2015?

On the year’s last trading day, the S.&P. was down 21.45 points, or a bit over 1 percent, at 2,058.90. The Dow dropped 160 points, or 0.9 percent, at 17,823.07, and the Nasdaq fell 41.39, or 0.87 percent, to 4,736.05.

But the losses didn’t dim the 2014 rally, which was remarkable for other reasons.

After 14 years, the S.&P. 500 finally, in late 2014, rose to a new high on an inflation-adjusted basis, according to data compiled by Professor Robert J. Shiller of Yale.  Read More at NYTimes