Tariff jitters, increasing interest rates, and fears of diminishing corporate profits are just a few of the reasons for such a steep downturn in the U.S. stock market this year.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) experienced its most disappointing December since the Great Depression. The Nasdaq 20 percent below its high, reflected the difficult market environment.

As billions ring in the New Year investors are hoping for the omission of perplexing quandaries that swayed the negative fiscal year.

Investors will be closely analyzing  U.S.- China trade negotiations, the path of U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, slowing corporate growth and economic fallout from the upcoming departure of Britain from the European Union, in early 2019.

President of the United States Donald Trump indicated on social media that trade tensions between the U.S. and China are progressing forward in a positive direction. This is a heavy sigh of relief for many investors as the trading volume was relatively light, owing to the holiday as the U.S. federal government shutdown entered its 10th day.

The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs and no new lows. In comparison the Nasdaq Composite recorded eight new highs and 98 new lows. Progressing issues outnumbered declining affairs on the NYSE by a 2.42-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.81-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

All 11 major sectors in the S&P 500 ended the session in positive territory, but for the year only healthcare and utilities ended higher. Nasdaq dropped down nearly 2% on New Year’s Day, followed by parallel dips in the market for several global channels.

This has started 2019 on a decline as the World Stock exchange is  deep in the red, with warning signs that global growth is slowing due to the ever plaguing ripple effects of the trade war with China.