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NEW YORK (AP) — Few analysts forecast this year's remarkable stock market rebound as major indexes were plunging to 12-year lows last March. Now, with most experts pre- dicting the pace of stocks' gains will slow in 2010, there's reason to believe they will be proven correct. Stocks began the dra- matic turnaround in March after Citigroup Inc. and other big banks said they were making money again, and then climbed at a fairly steady pace as signs of an economic recovery from the Great Recession became more pronounced. Investor fears about a potential financial system collapse played a big role in the early year slump in stocks. Once it was clear that wasn't going to happen, the Standard & Poor's 500 index roared back 64.8 per- cent from its early March low, the biggest move since the Depression. For the full year, the index rose 23.5 percent, it's best showing since 2003. But sustaining that momentum in the new year likely would require a big drop in the unemployment rate and strong corporate profit gains, along with sta- ble borrowing costs — a combination few analysts are forecasting. ''The easy money has been made already,'' said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist for PNC Wealth Management. ''You're not going to see another 65 per- cent move in the next nine months.'' In the last day of the year, more signs of healing first pleased investors, then had them concerned about the economy's ability to thrive without government help. Light trading volume exaggerated the market's moves, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down 120.46, or 1.1 per- cent, to 10,428.05. The year's stats tell an incredible story across the financial markets: — By March, the Dow Jones industrials had tum- bled 53.8 percent from a record high in October 2007 to a low of 6,547.05, its lowest level since 1997. It then rocketed 59.3 percent in the final nine months of the year . The Dow is still down 26.4 percent from its 2007 peak of 14,164.53. — U.S. stocks have gained about $5.2 trillion in value since the low in March, putting the gain for the year at $2.6 trillion. But the climb was still not enough to give investors a win for the decade. The S&P fell 24.1 percent from 2000-09, its first loss for a decade. S&P says it man- aged to advance during the Depression thanks to divi- dend payments. — A share of Citigroup Inc., one of the banks hit hardest by the 2008 finan- cial crisis and the recession, reached a high early in the year of $7.59, then fell to 97 cents in March. It ended the year at $3.31. — Technology and financial stocks posted some of the biggest gains in market value in 2009. Among them: Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Google Inc., Bank of America Corp. and IBM Corp. — Stock mutual funds are valued at about $4.6 tril- lion, up from $4.04 trillion at the beginning of the decade. — The Chicago Board Options Exchange's Volatil- ity Index, known as the market's fear index and a measure of investor worry, is down 45.8 percent for the year, and also down about 76 percent from its high of about 89, reached at the height of the financial crisis in the fall of 2008. It ended 2009 at 21.68. — The yield on the 10- year Treasury note, used as a benchmark for interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans, stands at 3.84 percent, up from 2.22 percent a year ago. Investors are no longer fleeing to the safety of U.S. government debt. — The ICE Futures US dollar index, which mea- sures the dollar against a basket of currencies, fell 4 percent for the year. The dollar gained 4 percent in December on expectations that a strengthening econo- my will lead to an increase in interest rates and make the dollar a more attractive investment. Analysts expect the dollar will remain strong early in 2010 but are divid- ed over whether it can hold its gains if the economy struggles. — Gold gained 24 per- cent for the year, rising as high as $1,227.50 and clos- ing at $1,096.20 as investors looked for high returns ways to shield their money from inflation. Stock market gains often come months before eco- nomic recoveries are con- firmed. That's because investors tend to bet on how they think business condi- tions will be six to nine months in the future. In downturns during the past 60 years, the S&P 500 index hit its bottom an aver- age of four months before a recession ended and about nine months before unem- ployment reached its peak. There are reasons to hope the market will start off 2010 well. In the first January after stocks start to recover from a bear market, the average gain in the S&P 500 index has been 3.7 per- cent, according to records. But analysts don't expect a straight line higher, in much the same way that the 2009 rally stalled in June, September and October. And, there are no guaran- tees about January, especial- ly since companies will be releasing their fourth-quar- ter earnings. Earnings are likely to look good on the surface due to what the market calls easy comparisons — when held up against the dismal performance of the fourth quarter of 2008, profits are bound to look better. 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