Futures are pointing to a higher open for the final day of 2018. Dow futures were up about 250 points. S&P 500 futures rose 0.9% and Nasdaq futures was up 1.1%.
The market moved higher after President Donald Trump expressed optimism Saturday that the United States could strike a trade deal with China. He tweeted a deal is "moving along very well," calling negotiations "very comprehensive."
But barring a miracle, this will be the second down year for US markets since the financial meltdown of 2008. The S&P 500 is down 7%, the Dow is down 6.7% and the Nasdaq has fallen 4.6% this year.
The S&P 500 and Dow were down slightly in 2015, but the Nasdaq was higher that year.
2018 was marked by wild volatility throughout the year, particularly in February and December.
In just the last 10 trading days, the Dow fell more than 350 points six times, including a 653-point plunge on December 24, the worst Christmas Eve point drop on record. But when investors returned to the market on December 26, the Dow spiked 1,086 points the biggest point gain ever.
The market is in an historic period of volatility. The S&P 500 was up or down more than 1% nine times in December alone, compared to eight times in all of 2017. It has moved that much 64 times this year.
Volatility has been driven by signs of a global economic slowdown, concerns about monetary policy, political dysfunction, inflation fears and worries about increased regulation of the technology sector.
Fear about a global trade war, sparked by the Trump administration's threats and actions against trading partners, remain a source of concern for markets.
Although the US economy has been strong, some fear the Federal Reserve has been raising rates too quickly and could choke off economic growth. Some formerly high-flying US tech stocks, such as Facebook (FB), Apple (AAPL) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) are now down for the year heading into Monday trading.
Brexit's impact on the United Kingdom and Europe also worried investors, as did a slowdown in the Chinese economy.
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