Wall Street is drowsy after Christmas, and the Christmas Eve market comes to an abrupt halt
On December 26th (the first trading day after Christmas), the U.S. stock market saw light trading, with mixed initial jobless claims data having little impact on traders' bets on the Federal Reserve's outlook. After the best Christmas Eve performance since 1974, U.S. stocks failed to gain further on Thursday. The S&P 500 index hovered around 6,037 points, with trading volume well below the average level of the past month; Wall Street remained calm in response to the latest economic data. "Economic data will not be a trigger event before entering the new year," said Kenny Polcari of SlateStone Wealth. "Christmas is over, but the New Year is just around the corner. Trading volume will remain sluggish." (Bloomberg)