Stocks Set to Cap Off Stellar Year

Stocks are expected to rise this week, capping off Wall Street’s best year in recent memory. It’s the first time in two years that stocks have posted annual growth, and for the S&P 500, it could be the best year since 2003. Though the economy is far from healthy, investors think economic indicators will keep improving, Reuters reports. “There’s an upward bias,” says the head of one investment firm.

The Dow is up 19.9% for the year, to the S&P’s 24.7% and the Nasdaq’s 45%. For investors that bought in at the March bottom, the gains have been even better—the S&P’s up 66.5% since then. “The market is telling us that the economy is a lot stronger than people are giving it credit” for, says one analyst. Expect high volatility and light volume this week, trending upwards. (More stock market stories.)