Slight loss for Dow

The US stock market is ending a tumultuous year right where it started.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed 2011 a fraction of a point below where it started the year.

The S&P closed at 1,257.60, up 5.42 points or 0.4%. It ended 2010 at nearly the exact same level, at 1,257.64. Its loss for the year is 0.04 point.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 69 points, or 0.6%, at 12,218. The Dow is up 5.5% for the year. The Nasdaq composite index fell 9 points, or 0.3%, to 2,605. It lost 1.8% for the year.

McDonald’s was the biggest winner in the Dow this year with a gain of 31%. Bank of America was the worst, down 58%.