1:10pm: Markets close strong
Investors embraced the festive spirit, pushing all three major benchmarks upward to close in the green.
The Dow climbed 0.9% to close at 43,297, extending its recent rally. The S&P 500 advanced 1.1%, finishing the day at 6,040, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite outperformed its peers, surging 1.4% to end at 20,031.
Technology stocks led the charge, continuing their strong performance from earlier in the week.
Several factors contributed to the day's positive sentiment:
The market's upward movement aligns with expectations of a "Santa Claus rally," a phenomenon often observed during the last five trading days of December and the first two of January.
As expected for a holiday-shortened session, trading volume was lighter than usual. The New York Stock Exchange closed early at 1 p.m. ET, with the bond market following at 2 p.m. ET.
With markets closed on Christmas Day, investors will be eyeing the remainder of the week to see if the current rally can sustain its momentum. Historical data suggests that December tends to be a strong month for stocks, particularly in presidential election years.
11:15am: Stocks making moves
It's a quiet time for big newsmakers, but there were a few stocks feeling festive on Tuesday.
Small companies making news include Jet.ai, which jumped over 77% at $6.06 on the launch of a new AI model for private jet booking.
Other trending tickers include Carbon Revolution plc (NASDAQ:CREV), up over 115% at $8.39 on a $25 million financing agreement with existing lenders.
And 2024's darling Palantir Technologies was up 2.1% on heavy trading, capping off a banner year for the company that saw its share price almost triple.
9:52am: Holiday cheer
Investors remained in a festive mood after Christmas Eve’s shortened trading session kicked off.
Technology and semiconductor stocks led the gains, with Meta up 1.5%, Broadcom added 2.2% and Nvidia up 1.5%.
This boosted the Nasdaq by 0.8% at 19,913 points, the S&P 500 was up 0.5% at 6,000 points and the Dow Jones added 0.1% at 42,937 points.
US markets will close early at 1pm Eastern Time today, followed by a full closure tomorrow for Christmas Day.
6:38am: Not too late for Santa
Festive cheer looked to sweep across Wall Street ahead of Tuesday’s shortened Christmas Eve trading session.
Futures had the Nasdaq up 0.2% ahead of the opening bell, while the S&P 500 was seen 0.1% higher and the Dow Jones set to move just above the mark.
Each had racked up gains on Monday, reviving hopes for some form of Santa rally after stocks tumbled on hawkish Federal Reserve commentary last week.
“It’s never too late to believe in Santa,” Swissquote Bank analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya commented.
“Investors on Monday were shrugging off the bad news of past week - especially the one that suggested that the Federal Reserve would cut its rates only two times in 2025 due to a too resilient US economy.”