World Markets Close 2008 Bruised and Confused

World stock markets were seeing out 2008 in a bruised and confused state after a year of dizzying turmoil, with stocks in Europe and Asia little changed Wednesday in light trading.

A man watches a board at the Australian Stock Exchange public viewing area in Sydney, Wednesday,...

A man watches a board at the Australian Stock Exchange public viewing area in Sydney, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008. The Australian sharemarket opened higher, following gains in U.S. stocks, regaining some of the losses of 2008, the worst calendar year on record. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

(AP)

In very modest shortened New Year's Eve trade, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 41.49 points, or 0.9 percent, at 4,434.17, while France's CAC-40 close up a bare 0.84 point, or 0.03 percent, at 3,217.97. Germany's DAX was closed for New Year's Eve.

Earlier, markets that were open in Asia ended the year mixed. In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 152 points, or 1.1 percent, to end at 14,387.48 — 48 percent lower than when the year began. Australia's key index added 1.9 percent but stock averages in Mumbai, Shanghai, Malaysia and Singapore fell modestly. Markets in Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand were closed for the holiday.

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A Gloomy 2008 Just Got Longer

In the U.S., Wall Street was set to end the year with a whimper, with futures markets predicting a slightly higher opening after Tuesday's advance on the news that General Motors Corp.'s troubled financing arm received $5 billion through the U.S. government's bank rescue program. The Dow Jones industrial average was predicted to open 18 points higher at 8,658 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index was set to open 3.4 points higher at 891.60.

The world's main markets will not reopen until Friday and investors will be hoping December's modest year-end rally across the world augurs a change of fortunes in 2009, especially if a massive stimulus package from the incoming Obama administration makes the U.S. recession shorter than would otherwise have been the case.

"I remain upbeat enough to believe that we will begin to move in the right direction before 2009 is out. Between now and then it will be a torrid affair," said Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners.

2008 will go down as one of the worst years ever in stock markets as the credit crunch claimed a number of high-profile investments banks in the U.S. and brought the financial world to near-ruin. Governments and central banks intervened to shore up confidence but could not prevent the world's leading economies sliding into recession.