** Wall Street has closed the books on 2023, with stocks riding high on AI excitement and 2024 rate-cut hopes

** Adding to the celebration, the three main indexes have now risen nine weeks in a row

** S&P 500 .SPX finished the week with a gain of 0.32%, the month with a 4.4% rise, the quarter with a 11.2% advance, and the year with a 24.2% surge

** Thanks to the Magnificent Seven, gains were skewed by strength in massive growth and technology names; chip stocks also had a strong year amid the AI craze and increased demand. SOX index .SOX rallied 64.9%

** S&P 500 growth .IGX had its best year relative to S&P 500 value .IVX since 2021, though might the Magnificent Seven be 2024 tumbleweeds?

** Dow Industrials .DJI rose 13.7% in 2023, while the Nasdaq .IXIC jumped 43.4%. The small-cap Russell 2000 .RUT gained 15.1%

** Again, big-tech was dominant as the Nasdaq 100 .NDX advanced 53.8% for its best year since 1999

** For 2023 SPX sectors, tech .SPLRCT led the way with a 56.4% advance. Utilities .SPLRCU, down 10.2%, was the biggest loser

** Remarkably, financials .SPSY finished up ~10% even as the banking industry faced its biggest crisis in more than a decade. S&P 500 Banks Index .SPXBK rallied 11% in December, while the KBW Regional Banking index .KRX notched ~17% December gain in wake of the Fed's dovish pivot

** In terms of individual SPX stocks, Nvidia NVDA.O was the top performer, surging 239%. Enphase Energy ENPH.O was the biggest loser, giving up around half its value

** Crypto stocks rocketed in 2023 as bitcoin BTC= built on its big breakout, advanced ~155%, ahead of a looming spot ETF decision

** Gold XAU= spiked to a $2,135.40 record high before backing away to end up 13.1%, though analysts expect more gains in 2024

** After hitting 5.0210% in late October, the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield US10YT=RR reversed back below 4%, to end roughly flat on the year

** And on the IPO front, high-profile listings returned in 2023 after 18-month hiatus. But volatile trading in shares of chip designer Arm Holdings ARM.O and grocery delivery app Instacart/Maplebear CART.O, along with German sandal-maker Birkenstock's BIRK.N underwhelming debut, squelched hopes for a U.S. IPO market resurgence

** SPX performance YTD:

(Lance Tupper and Terence Gabriel are Reuters market analysts. The views expressed are their own)

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