Wall Street edged higher Thursday as the year nears its finish with muted holiday trading.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 92 points, or 0.2% as of 2:45 p.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.1%.
The broader market remained mostly quiet ahead of the final trading day of the year. The S&P 500 is on track for its ninth straight week of gains and is up more than 24%. The two-month rally has also pushed the benchmark index closer to breaking its all-time high set in January of 2022.
Every other major index is also on track for a strong finish to year of solid gains. The Nasdaq has outpaced the broader market and is up more than 44% for the year.
Markets in Asia gained ground. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index was an outlier in Asia, shedding 0.4%. Speculation over whether and when the Bank of Japan might ease its longstanding lax monetary policy and raise its key interest rate from minus 0.1% has kept stocks wobbling in the world’s third-largest economy.
Markets in Europe fell.
There are few economic indicators out of Washington this week. The latest weekly report on unemployment benefits showed that applications rose last week, but not enough to raise concerns about the labor market or broader economy. The overall jobs market has been strong throughout 2023 and has been a driving force for the economy.
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate retreated for the ninth straight week to its lowest level since May, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. Mortgage rates have been easing since late October, along with long-term Treasury yields.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury surpassed 5.00% in October, but has also been generally falling since then. It rose to 3.86% on Thursday from 3.79% late Wednesday.
There was also a lack of big corporate news for investors.
Two higher-end models of the Apple Watch can go on sale again after a federal court temporarily lifted a sales halt ordered by the International Trade Commission due to a patent dispute. Apple rose 0.4%.
Technology and communication company stocks had some of the biggest gains and helped lead the broader market higher. Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices rose 2.2% and Facebook’s parent, Meta Platforms, rose 0.9%.
U.S. crude oil prices fell 3.6% and weighed down energy stocks. Hess fell 1.9%.
Companies are close to wrapping up their latest financial quarter and the next big batch of news will come when they start releasing those results later in January. Overall, companies in the S&P 500 have notched relatively strong profit gains after stumbling during the first half of 2023. That has given Wall Street more hope the economy will remain strong in 2024.
Analysts polled by FactSet expect companies in the S&P 500 to report earnings growth of 1.4% in the fourth quarter and say profit growth should accelerate next year.
Inflation has steadily eased since 2022 and should continue cooling into next year. The Fed’s preferred measure of inflation fell to 2.6% in November from a peak of 7.1% in 2022. That has helped improve forecasts for companies worried about inflation squeezing consumers and raising costs.
Economic data over the last few months have raised hopes that the economy can dodge a recession. Wall Street is betting that the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates and will likely shift to rate cuts in the new year. The central bank has held rates steady since its meeting in July, and Wall Street expects it to start cutting rates as early as March.
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Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed to this report.
