Wall Street closed higher in the final session of 2018 on Monday, but the year proved to be the worst for US stocks since the financial crisis a decade ago.

(File photo: AP)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.2 percent to close the year at 23,327.46 -- which meant a loss of 5.6 percent from 2017.

The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.9 percent in the session to 2,506.85, a loss of 6.2 percent for the year.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.8 percent to end at 6,635.28 a decline of 3.9 percent for 2018.