‘Santa Claus rally’ is here — but can the stock market avoid the ‘Grinch pinch’?

The Dow closed slightly higher on Thursday while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed lower in the second day of a so-called Santa Claus rally period.

The so-called Santa Claus rally could get off to a late start this year. But better late than never. A team of strategists at Ned Davis Research pointed out that stocks have struggled ahead of the start of the “Santa Claus rally” period, which begins on Tuesday.

Yes. The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will both operate on half-day schedules, closing at 1 p.m., while bond markets will shut down at 2 p.m., and major U.S. financial markets will stay closed until Thursday’s normal trading session.

Some of the biggest winners were mega-cap tech stocks, with Tesla up by 6% while Broadcom, Netflix, and Amazon each gained about 2%.

Stocks have seen a stellar 2024, but the S&P 500 is in danger of a rare December loss. It’s all riding on the so-called Santa Claus rally.

Learn all about the Santa Claus Rally, a seasonal stock market trend with historical significance. Discover why it happens and some tips.

"Stocks tend to do well in the absence of news and this is why strength around holidays tends to occur," Ryan Detrick said.

Stock indexes drifted to a mixed finish on Wall Street as some heavyweight technology and communications sector stocks offset gains elsewhere in the market.

Indexes fell in their first trading day after Christmas as traders hope for a so-called Santa Clause rally to propel markets higher into the new year.