Wall Street ended 2013 on a record high Tuesday, with both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting annual jumps not seen since the 1990s.
Stocks closed out the year with major indexes advancing throughout 2013 as a result of the Federal Reserve's massive stimulus and expectations for accelerating growth going forward.
The S&P 500 closed at 1,848.35, up .4 percent and 29.6 percent on the year, the largest annual increase since 1997. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also closed at a record high, reaching 16,576.73, up .4 percent from a day earlier and 26.5 percent on the year, marking the largest annual jump since 1996. The NASDAQ closed at its highest level in 13 years, rising 38.3 percent on the year.
Both the Dow and the S&P 500 finished the final trading day of 2013 at record closing highs, with the Dow Jones closing at a record high 52 times this year.
All 10 S&P 500 sector indexes ended the year with gains as investors rode the Fed's extraordinary stimulus in a year that had only the slightest of hiccups. Wall Street even weathered a partial shutdown of the U.S. government, as well as the recent announcement that the Fed would trim its monthly bond purchases in response to an improving economic picture.
About 63 percent of stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange closed higher for the day, while 55 percent of the shares traded on the NASDAQ ended in positive territory.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 72.37 points, or 0.44 percent, to end at 16,576.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 7.29 points, or 0.40 percent, to finish at 1,848.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 22.39 points, or 0.54 percent, to close at 4,176.59.
The Dow also touched an all-time intraday high of 16,588.25 on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 set a record intraday peak of 1,849.44.
The S&P/Case-Shiller composite index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.2 percent in October from September, but posted the strongest annualized gain in October in more than seven years.
Few investors expect 2014 to deliver the same scale of returns. According to the most recent Reuters equity poll, the S&P 500 is seen rising to 1,925 by the end of 2014, which represents an upside of 4.1 percent from current levels.