S&P 500, Dow close at record highs, dollar gains at end of tumultuous year

The Fearless Girl statue stands in front of the New York Stock Exchange in New York. The S&P and Dow closed at records on the last day of 2020, a year that saw a breathtaking nosedive in markets in the spring as the coronavirus took hold followed by steady gains in the months that followed as hopes built for an eventual return to something like normal. - AP filepic

NEW YORK: Wall Street advanced on Thursday and the dollar gained ground as investors closed the book on a turbulent year of pandemic, recession and recovery.

All three major indexes gained ground, with the Dow and S&P 500 picking up steam in the session's final minutes to exit 2020 at record highs. Over the course of a historic year, the indexes both roared and plummeted as economic shutdowns to contain the coronavirus brought markets to their knees.