Merchants work on the ground on the New York Inventory Change on Dec. 10, 2024.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
The S&P 500 traded close to the flatline on Monday because the market gears up for a holiday-shortened buying and selling week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Common dipped about 150 factors. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3%.
Buying and selling is predicted to be comparatively muted in the course of the week. The New York Inventory Change closes early Tuesday for Christmas Eve at 1 p.m. ET, and the market is shut on Christmas Day.
Traders are hopeful {that a} so-called Santa Claus rally might assist the market finish 2024 on a excessive be aware, particularly following a tumultuous week. Relationship again to 1969, the S&P 500, on common, added 1.3% within the final 5 buying and selling days of the yr and the primary two in January, in line with the Inventory Dealer’s Almanac.
The second half of December can be usually the second-strongest interval of the yr for U.S. equities, and the S&P 500 has been up 83% of the time in December of presidential election years, in line with Financial institution of America.
“With the market’s major uptrends nonetheless intact, we’re not giving up on the potential for a Santa Claus to come back to Broad & Wall this yr,” Craig Johnson, chief market technician at Piper Sandler, mentioned in a be aware.
The market is coming off a rollercoaster trip that noticed the blue-chip Dow endure a 10-day dropping streak, its longest since 1974. The Dow tumbled 1,100 factors final Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signaled fewer fee cuts for 2025 than beforehand projected. A cooler-than-expected inflation studying on the finish of the week helped shares recoup a number of the losses.
Month-to-date, the 30-stock Dow is down 4.6% in December, whereas the S&P 500 is off 1.7%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite bucked the downtrend, rising 1.8% this month.
Traders have been reassured that federal businesses will keep open into the brand new yr after President Joe Biden signed a funding invoice on Saturday that averted a authorities shutdown. The invoice funds federal businesses at present ranges for the subsequent three months.
