Stocks climbed in the US on Monday as the market kicked off a holiday-shortened trading week, buoyed by strength in technology shares. The S&P 500 rose 0.73% to 5,974.07, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.98% to 19,764.89. Leading the charge were tech heavyweights Tesla and Meta Platforms, each up over 2%, with Nvidia climbing more than 3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a modest increase of 66.69 points, or 0.16%, closing at 42,906.95 after recovering from earlier losses.
Trading volumes were light, a trend expected to persist as markets close early Tuesday for Christmas Eve and remain shut on Christmas Day. Earlier in the session, disappointing economic data weighed on sentiment. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index dropped to 104.7, its lowest since September, missing forecasts of 113.0. Durable goods orders also fell 1.1% in November, marking the steepest decline since June.
The Dow, down 4.5% for December, has endured a volatile month, including a 10-day losing streak not seen since 1974. However, the Nasdaq bucked the trend, up 2.8% month to date, supported by tech sector gains. Investors are cautiously optimistic about a potential “Santa Claus rally”, historically boosting markets in the year’s final trading days.
Turning to currencies, one Australian dollar at 8:30 was buying 62.51 US cents, 60.06 Euro cents and 98.22 Yen.
The SPI futures are pointing to a 5 point or 0.06% rise.
