It was the day after Christmas, and all through the markets, stocks were barely moving, and it wasn’t very shocking.
S&P 500 futures were down 0.1% in early Friday trading, while Dow futures were off 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures were little changed.
That markets were barely budging is barely a surprise. It is Boxing Day, after all, and markets in the U.K., Australia, and Canada are closed. Wall Street, for its part, is likely manned by skeleton crews, as participants take a long holiday weekend. Wednesday’s trading volume, over half a day, was the lowest of the year. It wouldn’t be a shock to see it trail off today as well.
Still, stocks are closing out the year on a high note. The Dow and the S&P 500 closed at record highs on Wednesday and will make another go of it on Friday. The Nasdaq is only 1.4% away from its record.
That should be fine. It’s the season of Santa and momentum favors continued gains, maybe even to 7000 for the S&P 500 by the end of the year. For now, the path of least resistance for the markets may just be higher.