The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded lower Monday as the market started a holiday-shortened trading week on a soft note.
The 30-stock index faded 110.59 points to 42,729.67.
The S&P 500 index recovered 16.76 points to 5,947.61
The NASDAQ rocketed 128 points to 19,700, as Tesla, Meta and Nvidia all climbed at least 2%.
MicroStrategy slid on the stock’s first day of inclusion in the NASDAQ index. MicroStrategy shares faltered $15.84, or 16.8%, to $348.36.
Trading is expected to be relatively muted during the week. The New York Stock Exchange closes early Tuesday for Christmas Eve at 1 p.m. ET, and the market is shut on Christmas Day.
Weak economic data seemed to sour the sentiment. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for December fell to 104.7, its lowest level since September and below a Dow Jones estimate of 113.0. Meanwhile, orders for durable goods — generally big-ticket items such as aircraft, appliances and computers — fell 1.1% in November, the largest month over month drop since June.
Investors were hopeful that a so-called Santa Claus rally may help the market end 2024 on a high note, especially following a tumultuous week. Dating back to 1969, the S&P 500, on average, added 1.3% in the last five trading days of the year and the first two in January, according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac.
The second half of December is also typically the second-strongest period of the year for U.S. equities, and the S&P 500 has been up 83% of the time in December of presidential election years, according to Bank of America.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sank a bit, lifting yields to 4.56% from Friday’s 4.53%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped 79 cents to $68.67 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold paled $12.80 an ounce to $2,626.40 U.S.
