Markets Year by Year since 1896
How the main markets did in every year since 1896, with the key event of each year. Click a year or a number for that market's year page: the daily chart, the key events and how the market reacted, records, milestones and the biggest days. 606 researched events with sources.
| Year | Dow | S&P 500 | Gold | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | ||||||||
| 2017 | +25.1% | +12.0% | +17.0% | |||||
| Dec 22: President Trump signs the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, cutting the corporate tax rate to 21% +1 more | ||||||||
| 2016 | +13.4% | +9.5% | +8.5% | |||||
| Jun 23: UK votes 51.9% to 48.1% to leave the EU; sterling falls to its lowest level since 1985 as results come in +6 more | ||||||||
| 2015 | −2.2% | −0.7% | −10.4% | |||||
| Jan 22: ECB announces quantitative easing with combined asset purchases of 60 billion euros per month +6 more | ||||||||
| 2014 | +7.5% | +11.4% | −1.5% | |||||
| Mar 18: Russia signs a treaty annexing Crimea from Ukraine +5 more | ||||||||
| 2013 | +26.5% | +29.6% | −27.5% | |||||
| Mar 25: Cyprus agrees a 10 billion euro international bailout that closes Laiki Bank and imposes losses on uninsured deposits +5 more | ||||||||
| 2012 | +7.3% | +13.4% | +8.3% | |||||
| Jul 26: ECB President Mario Draghi says the ECB is ready to do "whatever it takes" to preserve the euro +5 more | ||||||||
| 2011 | +5.5% | 0.0% | +8.9% | |||||
| Mar 11: Tohoku earthquake and tsunami strike northeastern Japan +7 more | ||||||||
| 2010 | +11.0% | +12.8% | +29.2% | |||||
| Jul 21: President Obama signs the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act into law +4 more | ||||||||
| 2000s | ||||||||
| 2009 | +18.8% | +23.5% | +25.0% | |||||
| Feb 17: President Obama signs the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act +5 more | ||||||||
| 2008 | −33.8% | −38.5% | +4.3% | |||||
| Mar 16: JPMorgan Chase agrees to acquire Bear Stearns for about $2 a share with Fed financing +7 more | ||||||||
| 2007 | +6.4% | +3.5% | +31.9% | |||||
| Aug 9: BNP Paribas closes funds exposed to US subprime mortgages, marking the start of the credit crunch +5 more | ||||||||
| 2006 | +16.3% | +13.6% | +23.2% | |||||
| Jan 16: Prosecutors raid Livedoor; the ensuing sell-off forces the Tokyo Stock Exchange to halt all trading +6 more | ||||||||
| 2005 | −0.6% | +3.0% | +17.8% | |||||
| Feb 16: Greenspan calls the decline in long-term bond yields despite Fed hikes a 'conundrum' +3 more | ||||||||
| 2004 | +3.1% | +9.0% | +4.6% | |||||
| Aug 19: Google goes public at $85 per share +3 more | ||||||||
| 2003 | +25.3% | +26.4% | +19.9% | |||||
| Mar 20: US-led coalition invades Iraq +3 more | ||||||||
| 2002 | −16.8% | −23.4% | +25.6% | |||||
| Jul 21: WorldCom files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after disclosing an accounting fraud +4 more | ||||||||
| 2001 | −7.1% | −13.0% | +0.7% | |||||
| Sep 11: Terrorist attacks hit New York and Washington; US stock exchanges close +6 more | ||||||||
| 2000 | −6.2% | −10.1% | −5.4% | |||||
| Jan 10: AOL and Time Warner announce their merger +5 more | ||||||||
| 1990s | ||||||||
| 1999 | +25.2% | +19.5% | +0.9% | |||||
| Nov 12: Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act is signed, repealing Glass-Steagall limits on combining banking and securities +6 more | ||||||||
| 1998 | +16.1% | +26.7% | −0.8% | |||||
| Aug 17: Russia devalues the ruble, defaults on domestic debt and declares a moratorium on foreign debt payments +6 more | ||||||||
| 1997 | +22.6% | +31.0% | −21.4% | |||||
| Jul 2: Thailand floats the baht, starting the Asian financial crisis +5 more | ||||||||
| 1996 | +26.0% | +20.3% | −4.6% | |||||
| Dec 5: Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan asks in a speech whether 'irrational exuberance' has inflated asset values +2 more | ||||||||
| 1995 | +33.5% | +34.1% | +1.0% | |||||
| Feb 26: Barings Bank is declared insolvent after losses from Nick Leeson's Japanese derivatives trading +6 more | ||||||||
| 1994 | +2.1% | −1.5% | −2.2% | |||||
| Jan 1: North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) enters into force +4 more | ||||||||
| 1993 | +13.7% | +7.1% | +17.7% | |||||
| Dec 8: President Clinton signs the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act +4 more | ||||||||
| 1992 | +4.2% | +4.5% | −5.7% | |||||
| Feb 7: Maastricht Treaty is signed, setting the path to European monetary union +4 more | ||||||||
| 1991 | +20.3% | +26.3% | −8.6% | |||||
| Jan 17: US-led coalition begins Operation Desert Storm air campaign against Iraq +5 more | ||||||||
| 1990 | −4.3% | −6.6% | −3.1% | |||||
| Aug 2: Iraq invades Kuwait, beginning the Gulf crisis +5 more | ||||||||
| 1980s | ||||||||
| 1989 | +27.0% | +27.3% | −2.8% | |||||
| Nov 9: East Germany opens the Berlin Wall +5 more | ||||||||
| 1988 | +11.8% | +12.4% | −15.3% | |||||
| Nov 8: George H. W. Bush is elected US president +3 more | ||||||||
| 1987 | +2.3% | +2.0% | +24.5% | |||||
| Oct 19: Black Monday: Dow falls 508 points (22.6%), its largest one-day percentage drop +6 more | ||||||||
| 1986 | +22.6% | +14.6% | +19.0% | |||||
| Mar 13: Microsoft goes public on Nasdaq +5 more | ||||||||
| 1985 | +27.7% | +26.3% | +6.0% | |||||
| Sep 22: G5 finance ministers sign the Plaza Accord to weaken the US dollar +3 more | ||||||||
| 1984 | −3.7% | +1.4% | −19.4% | |||||
| Nov 6: Ronald Reagan is re-elected US president +3 more | ||||||||
| 1983 | +20.3% | +17.3% | −16.3% | |||||
| Mar 14: OPEC agrees to cut its benchmark oil price by $5, from $34 to $29 a barrel +2 more | ||||||||
| 1982 | +19.6% | +14.8% | +14.9% | |||||
| Aug 13: Mexico encounters serious problems servicing its foreign debt, marking the onset of the debt crisis +5 more | ||||||||
| 1981 | −9.2% | −9.7% | −32.6% | |||||
| Jan 20: Ronald Reagan is inaugurated; Iran releases the 52 US hostages +3 more | ||||||||
| 1980 | +14.9% | +25.8% | +15.2% | |||||
| Sep 22: Iraq invades Iran, starting the Iran-Iraq War +7 more | ||||||||
| 1970s | ||||||||
| 1979 | +4.2% | +12.3% | +126.5% | |||||
| Jan 16: The Shah leaves Iran during the Iranian Revolution +7 more | ||||||||
| 1978 | −3.1% | +1.1% | +37.0% | |||||
| Mar 8: G. William Miller takes office as Federal Reserve chairman +3 more | ||||||||
| 1977 | −17.3% | −11.5% | +22.6% | |||||
| Jul 14: NYSE stays closed for the day after the New York City blackout +3 more | ||||||||
| 1976 | +17.9% | +19.1% | −4.1% | |||||
| Nov 2: Jimmy Carter is elected US president +3 more | ||||||||
| 1975 | +38.3% | +31.5% | −24.8% | |||||
| May 1: Fixed brokerage commissions end on US exchanges under SEC Rule 19b-3 ('May Day') +2 more | ||||||||
| 1974 | −27.6% | −29.7% | +66.1% | |||||
| Aug 9: Richard Nixon resigns as US president +6 more | ||||||||
| 1973 | −16.6% | −17.4% | +73.0% | |||||
| Oct 6: Egypt and Syria attack Israel, starting the Yom Kippur War +7 more | ||||||||
| 1972 | +14.6% | +15.6% | +48.8% | |||||
| Nov 7: Richard Nixon is re-elected US president +2 more | ||||||||
| 1971 | +6.1% | +10.8% | +16.7% | |||||
| Aug 15: Nixon closes the gold window, ending dollar convertibility to gold, and announces wage and price controls +3 more | ||||||||
| 1970 | +4.8% | +0.1% | +6.2% | |||||
| May 26: Dow hits its bear-market bottom near 631 +4 more | ||||||||
| 1960s | ||||||||
| 1969 | −15.2% | −11.4% | −16.0% | |||||
| Jun 9: US prime rate is raised to 8.50% +2 more | ||||||||
| 1968 | +4.3% | +7.7% | — | |||||
| Mar 15: The London gold market is closed at US request as the London Gold Pool collapses +3 more | ||||||||
| 1967 | +15.2% | +20.1% | — | |||||
| Jun 5: The Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt, Jordan and Syria begins +3 more | ||||||||
| 1966 | −18.9% | −13.1% | — | |||||
| Feb 9: Dow reaches 995.15, the peak of the 1960s bull market +2 more | ||||||||
| 1965 | +10.9% | +9.1% | — | |||||
| Feb 4: Charles de Gaulle calls for a return to the gold standard at a press conference +2 more | ||||||||
| 1964 | +14.6% | +13.0% | — | |||||
| Aug 10: President Johnson signs the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, expanding US involvement in Vietnam +3 more | ||||||||
| 1963 | +17.0% | +18.9% | — | |||||
| Nov 22: President Kennedy is assassinated; the NYSE halts trading at 2:07 pm after a sharp drop +3 more | ||||||||
| 1962 | −10.8% | −11.8% | — | |||||
| Oct 22: Kennedy announces a naval quarantine of Cuba in a televised address, escalating the Cuban Missile Crisis +2 more | ||||||||
| 1961 | +18.7% | +23.1% | — | |||||
| Aug 13: East Germany begins construction of the Berlin Wall +3 more | ||||||||
| 1960 | −9.3% | −3.0% | — | |||||
| Sep 14: OPEC is founded in Baghdad by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela +2 more | ||||||||
| 1950s | ||||||||
| 1959 | +16.4% | +8.5% | — | |||||
| Jan 1: Fulgencio Batista flees Cuba as the Cuban Revolution succeeds +3 more | ||||||||
| 1958 | +34.0% | +38.1% | — | |||||
| Jan 1: Treaty of Rome comes into force, establishing the European Economic Community +4 more | ||||||||
| 1957 | −12.8% | −14.3% | — | |||||
| Mar 25: Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community is signed +4 more | ||||||||
| 1956 | +2.3% | +2.6% | — | |||||
| Jul 26: Egyptian President Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal +4 more | ||||||||
| 1955 | +20.8% | +26.4% | — | |||||
| Apr 23: Federal Reserve raises the margin requirement on stocks to 70% +3 more | ||||||||
| 1954 | +44.0% | +45.0% | — | |||||
| Feb 5: New York Fed lowers its discount rate from 2% to 1.75% +2 more | ||||||||
| 1953 | −3.8% | −6.6% | — | |||||
| Feb 6: White House announces steps to eliminate Korean War wage and price controls +5 more | ||||||||
| 1952 | +8.4% | +11.8% | — | |||||
| Nov 4: Dwight D. Eisenhower wins the US presidential election +4 more | ||||||||
| 1951 | +14.4% | +16.3% | — | |||||
| Jan 26: US imposes a General Ceiling Price Regulation and freezes wages +4 more | ||||||||
| 1950 | +17.6% | — | — | |||||
| Jun 25: North Korean forces cross the 38th parallel, beginning the Korean War +5 more | ||||||||
| 1940s | ||||||||
| 1949 | +12.9% | — | — | |||||
| Apr 4: North Atlantic Treaty is signed in Washington, establishing NATO +5 more | ||||||||
| 1948 | −2.1% | — | — | |||||
| Jan 1: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade comes into force +5 more | ||||||||
| 1947 | +2.2% | — | — | |||||
| Mar 12: President Truman announces the Truman Doctrine to Congress +5 more | ||||||||
| 1946 | −8.1% | — | — | |||||
| Oct 14: President Truman ends price controls on meat +4 more | ||||||||
| 1945 | +26.6% | — | — | |||||
| Apr 12: President Roosevelt dies; Harry S. Truman becomes president +6 more | ||||||||
| 1944 | +12.1% | — | — | |||||
| Jun 6: Allied forces land in Normandy (D-Day) +3 more | ||||||||
| 1943 | +13.8% | — | — | |||||
| Feb 2: German 6th Army surrenders at Stalingrad +3 more | ||||||||
| 1942 | +7.6% | — | — | |||||
| Jan 30: Roosevelt signs the Emergency Price Control Act +5 more | ||||||||
| 1941 | −15.4% | — | — | |||||
| Mar 11: Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act +5 more | ||||||||
| 1940 | −12.7% | — | — | |||||
| May 10: Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and France +5 more | ||||||||
| 1930s | ||||||||
| 1939 | −2.9% | — | — | |||||
| Sep 1: Germany invades Poland +3 more | ||||||||
| 1938 | +28.1% | — | — | |||||
| Mar 12: German troops enter Austria (Anschluss) +4 more | ||||||||
| 1937 | −32.8% | — | — | |||||
| Jul 7: Marco Polo Bridge incident begins the Second Sino-Japanese War +4 more | ||||||||
| 1936 | +24.8% | — | — | |||||
| Jul 17: Military uprising begins the Spanish Civil War +4 more | ||||||||
| 1935 | +38.5% | — | — | |||||
| Oct 3: Italy invades Ethiopia +4 more | ||||||||
| 1934 | +4.1% | — | — | |||||
| Jan 30: Roosevelt signs the Gold Reserve Act, transferring the Federal Reserve's gold to the Treasury +5 more | ||||||||
| 1933 | +66.7% | — | — | |||||
| Mar 6: President Roosevelt's national bank holiday begins, closing all US banks +7 more | ||||||||
| 1932 | −23.1% | — | — | |||||
| Jan 22: President Hoover signs the Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act +4 more | ||||||||
| 1931 | −52.7% | — | — | |||||
| May 11: Austria's Creditanstalt says it cannot publish its 1930 accounts, triggering a European banking crisis +4 more | ||||||||
| 1930 | −33.8% | — | — | |||||
| May 17: The Bank for International Settlements opens for business in Basel +4 more | ||||||||
| 1920s | ||||||||
| 1929 | −17.2% | — | — | |||||
| Oct 24: Black Thursday: a record 12.9 million shares trade on the NYSE +6 more | ||||||||
| 1928 | +48.2% | — | — | |||||
| Aug 27: The Kellogg-Briand Pact is signed in Paris +4 more | ||||||||
| 1927 | +28.8% | — | — | |||||
| Feb 25: President Coolidge signs the McFadden Act on bank branching +2 more | ||||||||
| 1926 | +0.3% | — | — | |||||
| May 4: A general strike begins in the United Kingdom +3 more | ||||||||
| 1925 | +30.0% | — | — | |||||
| Apr 28: Chancellor Churchill announces Britain's return to the gold standard at $4.86 per pound +2 more | ||||||||
| 1924 | +26.2% | — | — | |||||
| Sep 1: The Dawes Plan for German reparations goes into effect +3 more | ||||||||
| 1923 | −3.3% | — | — | |||||
| Jan 11: French and Belgian troops begin the occupation of the Ruhr +3 more | ||||||||
| 1922 | +21.7% | — | — | |||||
| Feb 6: The Washington Naval Treaty is concluded, limiting naval arms +3 more | ||||||||
| 1921 | +12.7% | — | — | |||||
| May 5: The Allies set German reparations at 132 billion gold marks in the London Schedule of Payments +5 more | ||||||||
| 1920 | −32.9% | — | — | |||||
| Jan 17: Prohibition begins as the Eighteenth Amendment takes effect +4 more | ||||||||
| 1910s | ||||||||
| 1919 | +30.5% | — | — | |||||
| Jun 28: The Treaty of Versailles is signed +5 more | ||||||||
| 1918 | +10.5% | — | — | |||||
| Jan 8: President Wilson delivers his Fourteen Points speech +4 more | ||||||||
| 1917 | −21.7% | — | — | |||||
| Feb 3: The US breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany +5 more | ||||||||
| 1916 | −4.2% | — | — | |||||
| Jan 24: The Supreme Court upholds the federal income tax in Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad +4 more | ||||||||
| 1915 | +81.7% | — | — | |||||
| Jan 4: The London Stock Exchange reopens after its wartime closure +3 more | ||||||||
| 1914 | −30.7% | — | — | |||||
| Jun 28: Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated in Sarajevo +7 more | ||||||||
| 1913 | −10.3% | — | — | |||||
| Dec 23: President Wilson signs the Federal Reserve Act +4 more | ||||||||
| 1912 | +7.6% | — | — | |||||
| Feb 12: China's last Qing emperor abdicates +3 more | ||||||||
| 1911 | +0.4% | — | — | |||||
| Oct 10: The Wuchang Uprising begins the Chinese Revolution +4 more | ||||||||
| 1910 | −17.9% | — | — | |||||
| Jun 18: The Mann-Elkins Act is signed, extending federal railroad rate regulation +3 more | ||||||||
| 1900s | ||||||||
| 1909 | +15.0% | — | — | |||||
| Mar 4: William Howard Taft is inaugurated as the 27th US president +3 more | ||||||||
| 1908 | +46.6% | — | — | |||||
| Sep 16: William C. Durant founds the company that becomes General Motors +4 more | ||||||||
| 1907 | −37.7% | — | — | |||||
| Oct 16: The attempt to corner United Copper stock fails, triggering the Panic of 1907 +4 more | ||||||||
| 1906 | −1.9% | — | — | |||||
| Apr 18: The San Francisco earthquake destroys much of the city +2 more | ||||||||
| 1905 | +38.2% | — | — | |||||
| Sep 5: Japan and Russia sign the Treaty of Portsmouth, ending the Russo-Japanese War +2 more | ||||||||
| 1904 | +41.7% | — | — | |||||
| Feb 8: Japan attacks Port Arthur and declares war on Russia, starting the Russo-Japanese War +4 more | ||||||||
| 1903 | −23.6% | — | — | |||||
| Nov 18: The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty gives the US rights over the Panama Canal Zone +2 more | ||||||||
| 1902 | −0.4% | — | — | |||||
| Dec 9: Britain, Germany and Italy begin a naval blockade of Venezuela over unpaid debts +3 more | ||||||||
| 1901 | −8.7% | — | — | |||||
| Sep 6: President William McKinley is shot in Buffalo, New York +3 more | ||||||||
| 1900 | +7.0% | — | — | |||||
| Mar 14: The Gold Standard Act is signed, fixing the dollar at 25.8 grains of 90% gold (about $20.67/oz) +2 more | ||||||||
| 1890s | ||||||||
| 1899 | +9.2% | — | — | |||||
| Oct 11: The Second Boer War begins in South Africa, home of the Witwatersrand gold mines +3 more | ||||||||
| 1898 | +22.5% | — | — | |||||
| Feb 15: USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana harbor +2 more | ||||||||
| 1897 | +22.2% | — | — | |||||
| Mar 4: William McKinley is inaugurated as the 25th US president +2 more | ||||||||
| 1896 | — | — | — | |||||
| Nov 3: William McKinley, backing the gold standard, defeats free-silver candidate Bryan in the US presidential election +4 more | ||||||||
Change over each calendar year (price change; dividends are not included). 10-year yield: change in percentage points. Gold and silver from 1968, when the free market price began. On phones, Nasdaq, silver, oil and the yield are hidden — open a year for every market. Year pages also exist for the Russell 2000, Nikkei 225 and Brent oil (see their "by Year" tables).
Markets by Year: FAQ
What was the worst year for the stock market?
For the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 1931: it fell 52.7%. It was the third year of the Great Depression crash, which took the Dow 89% below its 1929 high by July 1932. The worst year for the S&P 500 since 1950 was 2008 (−38.5%).
What was the best year for the Dow Jones?
1915, when it rose 81.7%. Price change only — dividends are not included.
How often does the stock market fall in a year?
The Dow fell in 41 of the 121 full years since 1896 (34%) and rose in the rest.
What was the best year for gold?
1979, when the gold price rose 126.5% (London price, since the free market began in 1968).
Where do the key events come from?
Each event was researched and has a source link on its year page (encyclopedias, central banks, exchanges and news archives). The year pages also add events found in the price data, such as record highs, first closes above round numbers, bear markets and the biggest one-day moves.
Data: Corgano market-history database (Dow Jones since 1896, S&P 500, Nasdaq, London gold and silver prices, WTI oil, US 10-year Treasury yield). Not investment advice.