After a banner year for US stocks that saw the Dow hitting repeated records, Wall Street strategists predicted 2018 would see more moderate gains and increased volatility as markets retreated in the final session of 2017 on Friday.
A late sell-off pushed the market into the red amid declines in Apple, Amazon and some other high-flyers, but the decline didn't put much of a dent in a year of records and soaring valuations.
Analysts expect many of the positive conditions that boosted equities in 2017 to persist in 2018, including robust earnings growth thanks in part to US tax cut signed into law by President Donald Trump and solid conditions in many overseas economies.
However, on the downside, they see little chance of a repeat of the extraordinarily low volatility seen in 2017, which led to exceptionally few pullbacks in US stocks.
"2018 should be a good year, but not a great year and it might require a little intestinal fortitude," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. "We will get more volatility for less return."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 25 per cent in the year, ending Friday's session at 24,719.22 after scoring 71 new records, the most since the index was created in 1896.
The S&P 500 rose 19.4 per cent to close 2017 at 2,673.61, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index surged 28.2 per cent to 6,903.39, after briefly crossing 7,000 for the first time earlier in December.
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Read more:
World's wealthiest gain $1 trillion in 2017 on market exuberance
European shares set for best year since 2013 on tech and mining surge
Bubble or Boom? Bitcoin's heady ride - video
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Oil and gas futures finished broadly higher Friday. Benchmark US crude added 58 cents, or 1 per cent, to settle at $60.42 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's the highest closing price of the year and the first time US crude has finished above $60 a barrel since June 2015.
Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, gained 71 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $66.87 per barrel in London. The price of natural gas continued to rise in response to the harsh winter weather gripping a large swath of the US. It gained 4 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to $2.95 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gold added $12.10, or 0.9 per cent, to $1,309.30 an ounce. Silver gained 22 cents to $17.15 an ounce. Copper slipped a penny to $3.30 a pound.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.41 per cent from 2.43 per cent late Thursday.
The dollar finished the year weaker for the first time since 2012. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, which compares the value of the dollar to a basket of major currencies, declined nearly 10 per cent this year, its biggest drop since 2003.
The price of bitcoin was down 1.1 per cent to $14,263 as of 4:48 p.m. ET, according to the tracking site CoinDesk. Bitcoin futures on the Cboe Futures Exchange picked up 5.8 per cent to $14,550. The virtual currency has been highly volatile in recent weeks, hitting a record high before sliding sharply last week.
Major stock indexes in Europe finished mixed Friday. Britain's FTSE 100 climbed 0.9 per cent, hitting a record on the close of a shortened trading day. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 each declined 0.5 per cent.
For 2017, Britain's notched a gain of 7.6 per cent, while indexes in Germany and France closed the year with gains of 12.5 percent and 9.3 per cent, respectively.
In Asia, most markets ended the day with modest gains. Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 0.1 per cent lower, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.2 per cent. For the year, the Nikkei posted a gain of 19.1 per cent, while the Hang Seng finished with a gain of 36 per cent.
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
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COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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How being social media savvy can improve your well being
Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.
As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.
Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.
Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.
Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.
However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.
“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.
People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.
BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
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