A Christmas tree stands in front of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), on the day U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to ring the opening bell at NYSE to celebrate being named Time magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’, in New York City, New York, U.S., December 12, 2024.
Adam Gray | Reuters
Stock futures hovered near the flatline Thursday night as investors look to end the holiday-shortened week on a strong note.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 41 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures each dipped roughly 0.1%.
These moves follow thin trading action in Thursday’s regular session. The 30-stock Dow eked out a narrow gain for its fifth winning day, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite ended the session just below the flatline.
The three major U.S. indexes are in the green week to date after posting strong back-to-back gains at the start of the shortened holiday week. The S&P 500 is up 1.8% so far this week. The broad market index posted its best Christmas Eve performance since 1974 on Tuesday, according to Bespoke. The Dow has gained 1.1% this week, and a run-up in megacap tech stocks has pushed the Nasdaq Composite 2.3% higher.
Although trading has been muted this week, investors hope stocks will surge into the new year, spurred by the so-called “Santa Claus rally.” This refers to the market’s tendency to rise in the final five trading days of the year and the first two in January.
“The nation is experiencing a collective sigh of relief after navigating through a contentious election cycle and unusual market dynamics to end 2024 with strong year-to-date gains,” said Todd Ahlsten, chief investment officer at Parnassus Investments. “Looking ahead to 2025, the markets are expected to broaden and improve.”
In December, the Nasdaq is on pace for a 4.2% advance, lifted by a jump in Tesla and Alphabet shares, as well as by a rally in Apple that’s brought the iPhone maker closer to a $4 trillion market cap. The S&P 500 is toting a nearly 0.1% gain on the month. The Dow is on pace for its worst month since April, with a roughly 3.5% decline.
