Stocks ended a rocky 2010 on a quiet note Friday, with the major indexes little changed and trading volume at one of its lowest levels of the year.
The day contrasted with a sometimes gut-wrenching 2010. Despite investors' concerns about the U.S. economy and the possibility of European countries defaulting on debt, all three of the major stock indexes registered double-digit-percentage gains for the year.
At the close of trading Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 7.80 points, or 0.1 percent, to 11,577.51, about 8 points shy of the index's 2010 high. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.24 to 1,257.64, but still finished with its best December gain since 1991, up 6.5 percent. The Nasdaq composite index dipped 10.11, or 0.4 percent, to 2,652.87.
Consolidated trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange was a light 1.96 billion shares.
In corporate news, shares of Imax Corp. went for a roller-coaster ride on the last day of 2010, climbing steeply on a report Sony Corp. or Walt Disney might be interested before plunging after Imax poured cold water on the speculation. Shares jumped to $32.30 early in the Nasdaq session before falling back to $28.07 by the end of the day, still a 4.5 percent gain on Thursday's close.
The S&P index rose 12.8 percent for the year. The Dow gained 11 percent, its second straight year-on-year gain and the index's highest level since Aug. 29, 2008. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, rose 16.9 percent in 2010.
The market numbers hide the fact that it was a rocky year. Stocks plunged in the spring after Greece required an emergency bailout to deal with its debt crisis. That raised concerns about debt issues in other European countries, including Ireland, which needed a bailout later in the year.
The May 6 "flash crash," which sent the Dow down to a loss of nearly 1,000 points in less than a half-hour, also rattled investors. The Dow fell 14 percent from a high of 11,205.03 on April 26 to its low of 9,686.48 on July 2.
The sudden drop rattled many small investors who were still avoiding stocks after the financial crisis in 2008.
The Dow is still 12.7 percent below its 2007 closing mark of 13,264.82.
The dollar fell against the euro, pound and yen on Friday during thin trading. The euro rose to $1.3367 late Friday in New York. The pound rose to $1.5590, while the dollar fell to 81.21 Japanese yen.
For the year, the euro fell 8.3 percent against the dollar and the pound fell 2.5 percent against the dollar. But the dollar was down 12.2 percent against the yen.