Resilient Economy Energizes Investors, as Financial Markets End 2023 Up 24 Percent

People pass the front of the New York Stock Exchange in New York on March 21, 2023. Peter Morgan/AP Photo

NEW YORK—The S&P 500 closed out 2023 with a gain of more than 24 percent and the Dow finished near a record high, as easing inflation, a resilient economy, and the prospect of lower interest rates buoyed investors, particularly in the last two months of the year.

Stocks closed Friday with modest losses.