Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

S&P 500 ends 2021 with a nearly 27% gain, but dips in final trading day

S&P 500 ends 2021 with a nearly 27% gain, but dips in final trading day

U.S. stocks finished their final trading session of the year lower, capping off a record-setting 2021 that came despite the persistent headwinds of Covid-19.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday fell 59.78 points, or 0.16%, to 36,338.30. The S&P 500 pulled back 0.26% to close at 4,766.18. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.61% to 15,644.97.

All three indexes finished the month higher. December marked the Dow’s fifth-straight monthly gain and the Nasdaq recorded a six-month winning streak.

The major averages posted double-digit returns this year, as the global economy began its recovery from the 2020 Covid lockdowns, while the Federal Reserve maintained supportive measures first implemented at the onset of the pandemic.

The S&P 500 rose 26.89% in 2021, marking the benchmark’s third straight positive year. The Dow and Nasdaq also notched three-year winning streaks, gaining 18.73% and 21.39% for the year, respectively.

“2021 was another exceptional year for U.S. equity markets,” Wells Fargo Investment Institute’s Chris Haverland said in a note. “The markets were supported by ... highly accommodative fiscal and monetary policies.”

Strong corporate earnings also boosted U.S. stocks, Haverland said. The estimated year-over-year earnings growth rate for 2021 is 45.1%, according to FactSet. That would mark the highest annual earnings growth rate for the index since FactSet began tracking the metric in 2008.

“The economic and earnings rebound that started in 2020 carried over into 2021, lifting equity markets to record highs. While returns in 2020 were driven by price-to-earnings multiple expansion, returns in 2021 were driven by earnings growth,” Haverland said.

The S&P 500 notched 70 record closes this year, the second-highest annual tally behind 1995′s 77 closing highs.

The record closes occurred frequently. The S&P 500 has posted at least one new record close every month since November 2020. The longest span without a new high in 2021 was 33 trading days between record closes on Sept. 2 and Oct. 21.


Energy and real estate were the best-performing sectors in the S&P 500 this year, surging more than 40% each. Tech and financials also rose more than 30%.

Devon Energy was the top-performing stock on the S&P 500 this year with a 178.6% gain. Marathon Oil and Moderna were next in line, returning more than 140% in 2021. Ford was also among the S&P 500′s best performers this year, surging 136.3% for its biggest annual gain since 2009.

Home Depot and Microsoft led the Dow’s gains, rising more than 50% each this year. Names like Alphabet, Apple, Meta Platforms and Tesla were the top gainers on the Nasdaq Composite for the year.

The stellar year for stocks came even as the Covid pandemic rages on, with variants like delta and, more recently, omicron leading to case outbreaks throughout the year. The U.S. has now recorded more than 53 million Covid cases and more than 820,000 deaths, according to CDC data as of Thursday.

To be sure, developments like the rollout of the Covid vaccine have shifted public health protocols, giving way to some positive sentiment in the market.

But many investors and strategists expect tougher conditions next year as the Fed tapers off its pandemic-era easy monetary policy and addresses persistent inflation.

“It’s going to be tougher, I think, in the second half of 2022. Still, I think you’re going to have enough market for stocks next year,” Wharton finance professor and long-time market bull Jeremy Siegel said Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
×