A Christmas tree stands outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on the day US President-elect Donald Trump is expected to ring the opening bell to celebrate being named Time magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’.
Stock futures tumbled lower on Friday morning, with investors looking to end the holiday-shortened week on a strong note. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.1%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.16%, and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.23%.
The three major US stock indexes are in the green this week, with the S&P 500 up 1.8% so far, the Dow posting a 1.1% gain, and the Nasdaq Composite up 2.3%. Despite thin trading on Thursday, the S&P 500 posted its best Christmas Eve performance since 1974, according to Bespoke.
Investors hope stocks will surge into the new year, fueled by the so-called “Santa Claus rally”, which refers to the market’s tendency to rise in the final five trading days of the year and the first two in January. According to Todd Ahlsten, chief investment officer at Parnassus Investments, “the nation is experiencing a collective sigh of relief after navigating through a contentious election cycle and unusual market dynamics to end 2024 with strong year-to-date gains. Looking ahead to 2025, the markets are expected to broaden and improve.”
In December, the Nasdaq is on pace for a 4.2% advance, lifted by a jump in Tesla and Alphabet shares, as well as a rally in Apple, which has brought the iPhone maker closer to a $4 trillion market cap. The S&P 500 is toting a nearly 0.1% gain on the month, while the Dow is on pace for its worst month since April, with a roughly 3.5% decline.
