With the books closed on the year, the full extent of the stock market stampede of 2013 is now clear: Between stock market gains and dividend payouts, investors in the S&P 500 grew more than $4 trillion richer in 2013.
With interest rates still low and companies generating record earnings, the running of the bulls drove major indices to one record high after another as stocks posted their best annual gain since the go-go days of the mid-1990s. The benchmark S&P 500 finished the year at 1,848.36, up 29.6 percent, the best performance since 1997, when the index soared 31 percent. S&P 500 stocks gained $3.75 trillion in market value since the end of 2012. Dividend payouts of $312 billion also set a new record this year, topping the $282 billion returned to investors a year ago. Including dividends, the S&P 500 returned 32.4 percent.
Since hitting a bear market low on October 9, 2009, the S&P 500 has surged 173 percent.
The index’s 2013 gains were widespread: All 10 sectors moved higher, and 457 of the 500 stocks were up, just shy of the modern record of 458 gainers set in 2003. Only 41 of the S&P 500 stocks ended the year in the red.
Related: 11 Companies That Won 2013
The Dow Jones industrial average finished the year at 16,576.66, up 26.5 percent – its best annual return since 1995. The index has now posted gains for five straight calendar years. It reached 52 new closing highs this year, the most since 1995.
Of the 30 component stocks in the index, only one failed to advance in 2013: IBM (NYSE: IBM), which lost 2 percent. Boeing (NYSE: BA) was the best performer in the Dow, up 81.1 percent. American Express (NYSE: AXP), Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), Nike (NYSE: NKE) and 3M (NYSE: MMM) all soared more than 50 percent.
The Nasdaq Composite Index remains well below its dotcom bubble highs, but it fared even better than the other two major indices, gaining 38 percent on the year. The Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks gained 37 percent.
Futures prices for gold, by contrast, fell sharply this year, and shares of Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM) suffered as a result. The stock was the worst performer in the S&P 500, falling 50 percent.
| 2013 S&P 500 Winners and Losers | |||
| Stock (Ticker) | % Gain | Stock (Ticker) | % Loss |
| Netflix (NFLX) | 296.8 | Newmont Mining (NEM) | 50.4 |
| Micron Technology (MU) | 242.7 | Abbott Laboratories (ABT) | 41.5 |
| Best Buy (BBY) | 236.5 | Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) | 32 |
| Delta Air Lines (DAL) | 131.4 | Edwards Lifesciences (EW) | 27.1 |
| E*Trade Financial (ETFC) | 119.4 | Peabody Energy (BTU) | 26.6 |
| Pitney Bowes (PBI) | 119 | Teradata (TDC) | 26.5 |
| Celgene (CELG) | 114.6 | Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) | 21.7 |
| Boston Scientific (BSX) | 109.8 | First Energy (FE) | 21 |
| Genworth Financial (GNW) | 106.8 | Zoetis (ZTS) | 20.2 |
| Facebook (FB) | 105.3 | HCP (HCP) | 19.6 |
| Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices | |||
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