Wall Street Ends on a High Note

Updated from 4:04 p.m. EST

Stocks in New York finished on a high note Tuesday after investors shrugged off the release of the worst consumer confidence figures on record and prepared to close the book on a year that broke banks and portfolios alike.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 184.46 points, or 2.2%, to 8668.39, and the S&P 500 tacked on 21.22, or 2.4%, to 890.64. The Nasdaq climbed 40.38 points, or 2.7%, to 1550.70.

Wall Street and Main Street are no doubt relieved to bid adieu to a traumatic 2008. Putting a final stamp on the down year, the Conference board reported Tuesday that consumer confidence fell to a new all-time low in December, to 38 from 44.7 in November. "The further erosion of the Consumer Confidence Index reflects the rapid and steep deterioration of economic conditions that occurred in the fourth quarter of 2008," says Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center.

The data didn't get any better, but investors didn't expect them to, says Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at RidgeWorth Capital Management. "We've had a significant selloff; there are a lot of battered investors lying in the streets, and we're seeing some last-minute repositioning as we finish up the year."

The last five trading days of the year and the first five trading days of the new year typically have a positive tilt, and the market appears to be focusing more on the fall back in energy prices and year-end positioning than incremental news, says Gayle.