Not Yet Official, But Stocks On Track For Best Year Since 2013

Friday marks the final trading session of the year and assuming volatility doesn't strike the market, stocks will close 2016 on an encouraging note.

According to a Bloomberg report, global stocks will close out this volatile year with the largest gains since 2013 even though some regions and countries will end in the red.

Needless to say, political events dominated the headlines throughout 2016 and brought extreme volatility only to be followed by a strong rebound.

Concerning headlines out of China rocked global stocks and prompted Chinese regulators to halt its stock markets in January.

The surprising Brexit outcome in June resulted in a worldwide selloff of equities, but the declines were short-lived although the longer-term ramifications remain unclear at the end of 2016 as they were immediately following the vote.

President-elect Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. election initially sent U.S. equity futures plunging, but then the market went into full "Trump rally" mode.

Here is a roundup of how major stock indices and currencies performed in 2016, as compiled by Bloomberg.

Stocks

• Stoxx Europe 600 Index is lower by around 1.9 percent for the year and is on track for its annual loss since 2011.
• The UK FTSE 100 Index hit a new high of 7,132.52 on Friday and is higher by more than 14 percent this year.
• Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended 2016 higher by just 0.4 percent.
• Benchmarks in Italy, Portugal and Denmark have all lost at least 10 percent.
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 2.3 percent in 2016 marking its first annual gain since 2013.
• S&P 500 Index futures gained 10 percent in 2016.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is up 2.7 percent for the year.
• The Japanese yen was higher by more than 20 percent for the year back in August but erased most of the gains and is on track to end 2016 higher by around 2.9 percent.
• The British pound is the worst performing currency among the major advanced economies and is on track to lose more than 16 percent against the U.S. dollar this year.
• The euro will end the year lower by around 2.7 percent against the U.S. dollar.

Commodities

• The Bloomberg Commodity Index (tracks returns on raw materials) will mark its first annual gain since 2010 - up 12 percent for the year.
• Crude futures soared 46 percent this year following a supply cut agreement from OPEC and non-OPEC members.
• Gold is up more than 9 percent this year.