Stock market today: live updates

Stock futures hovered near zero on Thursday evening as investors look to end the holiday-shortened week on a high note.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 11 points and stayed just below zero. S&P 500 futures And Nasdaq 100 futures each fell by less than 0.1%.

The moves follow weak trading in Thursday’s regular session. The 30 Dow stocks achieved a narrow lead on his fifth day of victory, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite ended the session just below zero.

The three major US indexes are in the green week so far 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. According to Bespoke, the broad market index posted its best Christmas Eve performance since 1974 on Tuesday. The Dow is up 1.1% this week, and a rise in mega-cap tech stocks has the Nasdaq Composite up 2.3% driven.

Although trading was subdued this week, investors are hopeful that share prices will rise in the new year, boosted by the so-called “Santa Claus rally.” This refers to the market’s tendency to rise on the last five trading days of the year and the first two in January.

“The country is breathing a collective sigh of relief after weathering 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 forward to 2025, markets are expected to expand and improve.”

In December, the Nasdaq is on track for a 4.2% gain, driven by a rise in Tesla and Alphabet shares as well as a rally in Apple that is pushing the iPhone maker closer to a $4 trillion market cap brought. The S&P 500 recorded a gain of almost 0.1% for the month. The Dow is on track for its worst month since April, down about 3.5%.