Markets end strong year on weak note

Wall Street capped 2017 with a loss, weighed down by a broad slide in light trading ahead of the New Year’s holiday.

Technology companies, banks and health care stocks accounted for much of the market’s decline. Energy stocks also fell, even as the price of U.S. crude oil surged to its highest level in more than two years.

Despite the downbeat end to the week, the U.S. stock market finished 2017 with its strongest year since 2013.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index, the broadest measure of the stock

MARKETS

market, gained 19.4 percent for the year, more than double its gain in 2016. Including dividends, the total return was 22.5 percent, as of late Thursday.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended the year with a 25.1 percent gain, setting 71 all-time highs along the way.

The Nasdaq composite notched the biggest gain, an increase of 28.2 percent, while the Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks closed out 2017 with a gain of 13.1 percent.

Gaming companies powering the Dow Jones U.S. Gambling Index to a 36 percent gain this year. Scientific Gaming outpaced the industry, rising 266 percent as the company eased investor fears about its massive debt burden.

Golden Entertainment wasn’t far behind, rising 170 percent as its acquisition of the Stratosphere and Arizona Charlie’s casinos put it in the big leagues of gaming companies.

Wynn Resorts rose 95 percent as the opening of Wynn Palace on Cotai in August coincided with a return of VIP gamblers to the Chinese enclave. Gross gaming revenue on the island surged more than 20 percent in 2017, driving profit growth at Wynn. China accounts for more than 60 percent of Wynn revenue.

Boyd Gaming rallied 74 percent this year as the benefits of a strong national and local economy were felt in casinos. Boyd also rallied late in the year after announcing two acquisitions totaling about $850 million to acquire five regional gaming properties.

“It’s been the year that surprised everybody,” said J.J. Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade. “It was truly buy-on-the-dip, and that paid off better than anyone possibly expected.”

On Friday, many investors opted to pocket some of their gains, especially in technology stocks, which led the market with a gain of 36.9 percent.

Friday’s slide pulled the market lower for the week.

All told, the S&P 500 ended the day down 13.93 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,673.61. The Dow dropped 118.29 points, or 0.5 percent, to 24,719.22. The Nasdaq fell 46.77 points, or 0.7 percent, to 6,903.39. The Russell

2000 index gave up 13.42 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,535.51.

Major stock indexes in Europe finished mixed Friday. Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.9 percent, hitting a record on the close of a shortened trading day. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 each declined 0.5 percent.

For 2017, Britain’s notched a gain of 7.6 percent, while indexes in Germany and France closed the year with gains of 12.5 percent and 9.3 percent, respectively.

In Asia, most markets ended the day with modest gains. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.1 percent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.2 percent. For the year, the Nikkei posted a gain of 19.1 percent, while the Hang Seng finished with a gain of 36 percent.

Review-journal staff writer Todd Prince contributed to this story.