Inventory indexes posted combined outcomes on Thursday of their first buying and selling session following Christmas, tempering the momentum of the so-called Santa Claus rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Common added about 29 factors, closing 0.1% larger, whereas the S&P 500 edged down barely to complete almost flat. The Nasdaq additionally declined marginally, slipping 0.1%.
These combined performances got here after two consecutive days of features, with Wednesday’s rally kicking off the Santa Claus interval—a traditionally bullish stretch comprising the final 5 buying and selling days of the 12 months and the primary two of January. Traditionally, this era has seen the S&P 500 rise a mean of 1.3%.
This 12 months’s rally started robustly on Christmas Eve, with the Dow climbing almost 400 factors and the S&P 500 rising 1.1%, delivering the index’s strongest Christmas Eve efficiency since 1974.
Merchants stay optimistic that the rally will shut out the 12 months on a excessive be aware and pave the best way for continued features in 2024.
“When Santa delivers a constructive Santa Claus Rally return, the S&P 500 has traditionally generated a mean January acquire of 1.4% and an annual ahead return of 10.4%,” stated Adam Turnquist, Chief Technical Strategist at LPL Monetary, in a Tuesday be aware.
Nevertheless, Turnquist cautioned that if shares decline throughout this era, the S&P 500 usually sees flatter efficiency in January and a extra modest ahead annual return of 5%.
Elsewhere, the newest labor market information revealed potential challenges forward. Persevering with unemployment claims surged to 1.91 million, the very best stage in over three years, signaling elevated job market pressure. Preliminary jobless claims for the week got here in at 219,000, barely under consensus estimates of 225,000.
