• The S&P 500 and the Dow industrials slipped in a shortened, pre-Christmas session on Tuesday, as investors paused after a record-setting rally fueled by improving U.S.-China trade relations that has put the market on course for its best year since 2013.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 36.08 points, or 0.13%, to 28,515.45, the S&P 500 lost 0.63 point, or 0.02%, to 3,223.38 and the Nasdaq Composite added 7.24 points, or 0.08%, to 8,952.88.
• Stocks in 2020
Markets officially entered holiday as trading volumes remain very thin and as Wall Street prepares to take the rest of the week off. The Santa rally starts today and if it delivers its typical holiday rally, could produce a 1.3% gain over the next seven trading days. Trading today will unlikely produce any meaningful moves with both the stock market closing early at 1pm and bond trading at 2pm.
The playbook for 2020 will be for stocks to rise higher as markets firmly believe the Fed will be on hold, credit markets are healthy, the consumer is strong and some of the key headwinds in 2019 are becoming tailwinds.
• European stocks ground out fresh record gains on Tuesday in thin trading ahead of Christmas with investors optimistic about global growth heading into 2020 amid progress in U.S.-China trade talks.
In an early close for markets, the pan-European STOXX 600 index added 0.12% to touch an all-time high, while France’s CAC 40 and Spain’s IBEX 35 were little changed.
• Stocks in Asia nudged higher on Thursday morning following Christmas Day, with markets in Australia and Hong Kong closed for holidays.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan was 0.55% higher in morning trade, with shares of FamilyMart rising about 1.2%. The Topix index also saw gains of 0.44%.
South Korea’s Kospi recovered from its earlier slip to rise 0.19% as shares of industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics added 0.36%.
Major markets across the region were closed on Wednesday for Christmas, including Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters, Marketpulse
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