NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The year-end rally in U.S. stocks finally ran its course on the last trading day of the year, but not before helping Wall Street rewrite the history books.
The Dow Jones industrial average Wednesday closed with a loss of 7.72 points to a reading of 7,908.25.
But, thanks largely to the 3 percent rally Monday and Tuesday, the blue-chip index has surged 1,459.98 points, or 22 percent, for the year. Prior to this, the average has never in its 101-year history registered 20 percent-plus gains for three consecutive years.
And the broader markets show more resilience. The S&P 500 lost only 0.41 points to 970.43. For the year, the S&P gained 229.69 points, or 31 percent.
The Nasdaq composite index closed 5.32 points higher to 1,570.35. For all of 1997, the index soared 279.32 points, or 22 percent.
Turnover was sluggish on the New York Stock Exchange as investors appeared more preoccupied with the Big Board's festivities than trading. Volume totaled 472 million shares.
By afternoon, the market's breadth turned decidedly positive with advancing issues outpacing decliners, 1,820 to 1,091.
Transportation issues once again helped bolster the market's gains. The Dow Jones transport average soared 40.28 to 3,256.50.
Elsewhere, the bond market, which closed early due to the New Year's holiday, was helped by economic reports indicating that the labor market weakened slightly. The 30-year Treasury bond ended up 21/32 to yield 5.92 percent.
-- by staff writer Robert Liu
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