Global stocks end strong year with losses

Global stock markets closed lower Friday, the final trading session of 2021 -- a year of strong gains overall as economies recovered despite ongoing restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wall Street, the broad-based S&P 500 had its best December in over a decade, and scored a third straight year of double-digit gains with a 27.1 per cent jump. The index notched records 70 times this year,  "second only to 1954," said analyst Sam Stovall.

 "2021 was a very good year. "The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average won 18.7 per cent, while high-flying tech stocks pushed the Nasdaq up 21.4 per cent. London's benchmark FTSE 100 index fell 0.3 per cent in a shortened trading session ahead of the New Year, posting an increase of 14 per cent for the year.

The Paris CAC 40 index rocketed almost 29 per cent this year, its best showing for more than 20 years. Germany's DAX had ended its year Thursday, having surged nearly 16 per cent in 2021.

While markets soared in 2021, they seesawed in recent months as investors worried about resurging inflation, the prospect of an end to central bank largesse and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.