Wall Street Set for Gains in Shortened Session

All three major Wall Street indexes advanced on Tuesday. The markets are up in a shortened session before Christmas, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gaining for the third consecutive day, driven by gains in some large-cap and growth stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which tracks 30 large industrial companies, rose 0.42% to 43,085.14 points. The SPX 500, representing the most valuable companies, gained 0.68%, reaching 6,014.57 points. The Nasdaq Composite, heavily weighted toward technology stocks, increased 1.03%, reaching 19,968.79 points.

Broadcom’s shares stand out, rising 2.82% this morning, along with Nvidia, which gained 1.12%, both benefiting from strong projections for next year due to the surge in artificial intelligence chip demand.

SPX

Additionally, Netflix shares rose 1.87% after Keybanc analysts raised their price target to $1,000 from the current price of $928, citing lower competition and greater dominance in live-streaming events.

With few major catalysts, low trading volumes expected in the final days of the year suggest a volatile session. U.S. markets close early today, marking the start of the year-end low-volume season.

European Markets

European markets also had an early Christmas close. Major exchanges ended mixed, with the Stoxx 600 index, which tracks the 600 largest companies in the region, rising 0.2%, supported by technology stocks.

Germany’s DAX index fell 0.18% to 19,848.77 points, while France’s CAC 40 rose 0.14% to 7,282.69 points. Spain’s Ibex 35 climbed 0.29% to 11,468.50 points. Outside the eurozone, the UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.42% to 8,136.99 points.

Ignacio Teson

Economist and Financial Analyst

Ignacio Teson is an Economist and Financial Analyst. He has more than 7 years of experience in emerging markets. He worked as an analyst and market operator at brokerage firms in Argentina and Spain.