A soft finish to 2024 still left stocks with a second straight stellar year. The S&P 500 logged a 23.3% gain, which follows a 24% rise in 2023. The combined gains of more than 53% was the largest two-year percentage jump for the index since year-end 1998,

U.S. stock indexes are starting 2025 with gains, putting Wall Street on track to break a four-day losing streak that dimmed the end of its stellar 2024. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% at the open of trading Thursday following its longest losing streak since early September.

Markets have been energized by receding inflation, which has gotten closer to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. That raised hopes that the central bank would deliver multiple interest rate cuts into next year, which would ease borrowing costs and fuel more economic growth.