It’s the year of the market, cannabis stocks continue to drop and more in Monday’s Closing Bell on Money & Markets.

U.S. stocks are on pace to have their best year since 2013, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The S&P 500 is up about 29% for the year while the Nasdaq Composite is up 35%. Those marks are the biggest gains for both indices since 2013 when the S&P 500 closed up 30% and the Nasdaq was up 38%.

Even the Dow Jones Industrial Average is on pace for a strong year. With one full day of trading left in the year, the DJIA is up 22% for the year — the best since 2017.

Money and Markets: Closing Bell

S&P 500: 3,221 (-18 points, -0.5%)
DOW: 28,462 (-183 points, -0.6%)
NASDAQ: 8,845 (-60 points, -0.6%)
GOLD: $1,515.02 (+5.7, +0.3%)
BITCOIN: $7,246.78 (-1.7%)
U.S. 10-YEAR YIELD: 1.88%

*As of 4:20 p.m. EST

Golden Nuggets

Gold could hit as high at $2,000 an ounce, according to City Index technical analyst, Fawad Razaqzada, according to Kitco News.

But even if gold doesn’t hit that high, it will still continue to move upward in 2020, Razaqzada said.

“Gold’s technical outlook remains bullish given that breakout in the summer from a 6-year-old consolidation at $1,350 and the subsequent bullish consolidation we have seen in recent months,” he said in a recent report. “So long as gold holds the breakout above $1,350, the long-term technical bias would remain bullish.”

Gold was up 0.01% late Monday afternoon.

Cannabis Corner

It was mostly a down day for cannabis stocks.

Giants Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) and Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE: CGC) were down 0.5% and 2.1%, respectively, in late afternoon trading. Abbvie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) and Altria Group (NYSE: MO) were also down almost 1% each.

Stock Market Update

The market handed back some of its gains through afternoon trading Monday.

The S&P 500 closed down 0.6%. The index is on track to end December about 2.6% higher, notching its fourth straight monthly gain.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 183 points, or 0.6%, to 28,462. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.6%.

TODAY’S BIGGEST WINNERS:

(as of 3 p.m. EST)

Ross Stores Inc. (Nasdaq: ROST) +1.4%

T-Mobile US Inc. (Nasdaq: TMUS) +0.9%

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: APPL) +0.5%

Helmerich and Payne Inc. (NYSE: HP) +2.7%

Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) +1.8%

TODAY’S BIGGEST LOSERS:

(as of 3 p.m. EST)

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) -1.6%

Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) -3.7%

Nvidia Corp. (Nasdaq: NVDA) -2.2%

Proctor & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) -1.3%

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (Nasdaq: AMD) -1.6%

Check back for the most important news and numbers each day after the Closing Bell, only on Money and Markets. 

Don’t forget about “Marijuana Markets: a POTcast,” featuring the biggest cannabis news and investment notes from Banyan Hill’s Anthony Planas, here on Money and Markets each Saturday morning.