Traders work on the New York Stock Exchange floor on Dec. 18, 2024.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
U.S. stock futures were relatively unchanged Monday night after all three major averages kicked off the holiday-shortened trading week in the green.
S&P 500 futures, along with the Nasdaq 100 futures, traded just above the flatline. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 31 points, or about 0.1%.
This comes amid what is expected to be a more toned-down week for trading activity. On Tuesday, the New York Stock Exchange closes early at 1 p.m. ET for Christmas Eve, while the bond market closes at 2 p.m. The market is also closed on Wednesday for Christmas Day.
Monday was a relatively sparse day of trading, with the S&P 500 rising around 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite closing about 1% higher. The 30-stock Dow also finished up nearly 0.2%.
Tech names and semiconductors were among the big winners of the day, lifting the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Meta Platforms jumped more than 2% and Broadcom advanced more than 5%, while Nvidia rose 3.7%.
Elsewhere, Honda and Xerox each finished the session more than 12% higher. The Japanese automaker announced it has entered into official merger talks with fellow Japanese automaker Nissan. Xerox said it is going to buy printer maker Lexmark in a deal valued at $1.5 billion.
That said, the day was still affected by weak economic data. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index fell to 104.7 in December. The reading missed the Dow Jones estimate of 113.0 and marked the index’s lowest level since September’s reading of 98.7. Additionally, orders for durable goods fell 1.1% in November, which is the largest month-over-month decline since June.
Frost ahead for the Santa Claus rally?
With few trading days in store, some investors are hoping for a Santa Claus rally to conclude what has already been a strong year for the market. And that’s not completely out of the ordinary. According to the Stock Trader’s Almanac, the S&P 500 has gained 1.3% on average between the last five trading days of the year and the first two in January, dating back to 1969.
But Jay Hatfield of Infrastructure Capital Advisors is calling for a bit of a stall in the market over the coming days. He’s sticking with his year-end 2024 S&P 500 target of 6,000, which implies only a 0.4% increase for the broad market index from Monday’s close.
“We might get a Santa Claus rally, but those aren’t that powerful rallies – those are usually like a little bit grinding higher,” the firm’s CEO told CNBC. “We’re neutral on the market.”