Wall Street’s main indexes closed largely unchanged on Thursday, with few catalysts driving market activity. Rising U.S. Treasury yields, which reached their highest level since early May, weighed on technology megacaps. The 10-year Treasury note yield rose to 4.64% before paring some of its gains, ultimately ending at 4.58%.
The market’s lack of direction was partly due to the holiday season, with many markets in Europe, London, and parts of Asia closed on Thursday. However, the S&P 500 lost 2.66 points, or 0.04%, to end at 6,037.09, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 10.74 points, or 0.05%, to 20,020.38. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, on the other hand, rose 28.52 points, or 0.06%, to 43,325.55.
Megacap technology stocks, including Tesla, Amazon, and Meta Platforms, were among the notable decliners, while Apple increased and continued to edge closer to becoming the first company in the world to hit a market value of $4 trillion.
According to Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial, the technology sector has resumed its upward momentum since the U.S. elections in November and has outperformed the equal-weighted version of the S&P 500. However, Turnquist warned that the market may be showing signs of weakness, with significant reliance on a few large-cap stocks driving market activity.
Despite the recent sluggishness, markets are still in a seasonally strong period, known as the “Santa Claus rally,” which is characterized by low liquidity, tax-loss harvesting, and year-end bonuses. The S&P 500 has historically gained an average of 1.3% in the last five trading days of December and the first two days of January since 1969.
Cryptocurrency-related stocks were down after bitcoin declined, while other sectors, such as consumer discretionary and energy, also fell.