Stocks jumped at the opening bell on the first day of trading in 2015, signaling a happy beginning to a year with large shoes to fill after three consecutive years of 10%-plus gains on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 100 points, rising 0.6%. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite index gained 0.8%.
Experts are predicting another year of gains on Wall Street as the economic recovery solidifies, despite concerns about the age of the bull market and the possibility the Fed will begin to implement rate hikes later in the year.
In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index enjoyed a strong start to the new year, gaining 252.78 points, or 1.1%, to close at 23,857.82. Japanese markets and the Shanghai composite were closed for New Year holidays. European benchmarks saw a mixed start to 2015, with Britain’s FTSE 100 up 0.1% and France’s CAC-40 0.1% higher, while Germany’s DAX was down 0.1%.