United States (US) stocks traded higher on Thursday, finishing 2020 at a record high despite the coronavirus pandemic dominating market sentiment throughout 2020.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a stock market index that measures the market performance of 30 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States ended the year with a fresh record high. Compared to the same time in 2019, the Dow Jones rose by 7.02%.
The Nasdaq 100 was up 0.33% at the closing and on an annual basis, the Nasdaq is up 47.58%. The S&P 500 was up 15.96% at the close of the year close to reach an all-time high.
On Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) approved an emergency use validation to the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, making it the first jab to have received a WHO stamp of approval.
Top US Stocks in 2020
Large-cap technology stocks; led by Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Netflix Inc. drove major U.S. stock indexes to record highs in 2020 according to an analysis by Bloomberg.
Amazon stock surged 76%, while in the course of the year, Apple became the first-ever $2 trillion company while stuck-at-home consumers spent more time streaming television shows and movies, sparking a rally in Netflix shares.
Tesla
Tesla stock surged by +740% in 2020 closing the year with a market cap of $669 billion. Investor optimism about Tesla’s inclusion into the S&P 500 and the prospect of higher growth for the sector drove the demand for Elon Musk’s company.
Gold
Gold prices finished the year with a nearly 25% annual gain and this its best year for the yellow metal since 2010. Gold skyrocketed this year as investors searched for safe-haven assets amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Bitcoin
The price of Bitcoin rose past the $29,000 mark on Thursday 31st Dec 2020. The world’s most famous cryptocurrency surged by more than 300% in 2020, therefore, outpacing other traditional asset classes.
The rise in the price of Bitcoin has been driven by retail investors with expectations to capitalize on the gains as well as the positive news throughtout the year that the digital currency could finally become a mainstream payment method.
| 1 Month | +55% | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Months | +174% | ||
| 1 Year | +305% | ||
| 3 Years | +116% | ||
| 5 Years | +6618% |
READ; ‘’Markets Recovery Don’t Imply Economic Recovery,’’ Leila Fourie, CEO Johannesburg Stock Exchange
