Wall Street is trending toward a mixed close following the Christmas break amid weak trading

Stock indexes posted a mixed performance on Wall Street as some heavyweight technology and communications stocks offset gains elsewhere in the market.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped less than 0.1% on Thursday, its first loss after three straight gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1%. Trading volume was lower than usual as U.S. markets reopened after the Christmas holiday.

Chip company Broadcom rose 2.5%, Micron Technology rose 1.3% and Adobe rose 0.8%.

Although tech stocks were in the green overall, some heavyweights weighed on the market. Semiconductor giant Nvidia, which has an outsized influence on indexes because of its huge valuation, slipped 0.1%. Meta Platforms fell 0.5%, Amazon fell 0.4% and Netflix fell 0.7%.

Tesla was among the biggest losers in the S&P 500, down 1.4%.

Healthcare stocks contributed to the market’s rally. CVS Health rose 1.4% and Walgreens Boots Alliance rose 3.9%, posting the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks.

Several retailers also gained ground. Target rose 3.1%, Ross Stores rose 1.8%, Best Buy climbed 2.5% and Dollar Tree rose 3.6%.

Traders are watching to see if retailers have a strong holiday season. The day after Christmas traditionally ranks as one of the top 10 shopping days of the year, as consumers head online or rush to stores to redeem gift cards and raid bargain bins.

U.S.-listed shares of Honda and Nissan rose 4.2% and 15.9%, respectively. The Japanese automakers announced this week that the two companies are in talks to merge.

Traders received a labor market update. In the U.S., jobless claims remained stable last week, even as ongoing claims rose to their highest level in three years, the Labor Department reported.

Government bond yields fell for the most part in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.58% from 4.59% late Tuesday.

Trading was expected to be subdued this week with little economic data on the calendar.

Nevertheless, US markets have historically experienced a year-end upswing despite lower trading volumes. The last five trading days of each year and the first two of the new year have brought an average gain of 1.3% since 1950.

This month, the U.S. stock market lost some of its gains since President-elect Donald Trump’s victory on Election Day, raising hopes of faster economic growth and looser regulations that would boost corporate profits. There are fears that Trump’s preference for tariffs and other measures could lead to higher inflation, higher U.S. national debt and difficulties for global trade.

Nevertheless, the US market remains on track to deliver strong returns in 2024. The benchmark S&P 500 is up about 26% this year and remains near its recent all-time high reached earlier this month – its latest of 57 record highs this year.

Veiga writes for the Associated Press. AP business reporters Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed.