World Stocks Eye Glum 2022 While Dollar Triumphs

A man on a bicycle stands in front of an electronic board showing Shanghai stock index, Nikkei share price index, and Dow Jones Industrial Average outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, on Sept. 22, 2022. Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

LONDON/SINGAPORE—World stocks were steady on the last trading day of the year as markets digested U.S. data and the dismantling of China’s zero-COVID policy, but the global index was heading for a 20 percent drop over a year marred by high inflation and war in Europe.

The dollar, a beneficiary of rising U.S. interest rates, was on track for its best annual performance in seven years.