Stocks, gold and oil all down in 2015

New York (Jan 1)  It was not a good year for the markets. Stocks slid Thursday to end the year in the red, capping their worst year since the financial crisis started in 2008. The decline also snapped a streak of six consecutive years in which stocks rose.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 179 points at 17,425, down more than 2.2 percent on the year. The S&P 500 also fell on the day to end the year down 0.73 percent. The Nasdaq, however, had a relatively strong year, climbing 5.7 percent.

Commodities also had a poor year, with oil finishing the year below $40 a barrel. Brent crude rose Thursday to $37.28, well below the $57 per-barrel price at the start of the year. The drop in oil prices in 2015 was a continuation of the collapse that begin in 2014, when prices peaked at more than $110 a barrel.

Gold, meanwhile, posted its third consecutive annual loss. It finished nearly level on the day Thursday to close the year at $1,060 an ounce, down over 10 percent from the start of the year. Gold reached a record high of $1,877 in 2011.

Source: Washington Examiner