Wall Street Holiday: Nasdaq, NYSE to remain closed on December 25 on account of Christmas

Wall Street holiday: US stock markets will remain closed on Wednesday, December 25 and close early on Tuesday, December 24, in observance of the Christmas holiday and Christmas Eve, respectively. According to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, trading activity on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) will remain closed for Christmas celebrations in the world’s largest economy.

The US stock exchanges will open for half a day on Tuesday, December 24 and close early at 1 p.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time) on account of Christmas Eve. The US bond market will also close early at 2 p.m. on December 24, ahead of Christmas. After closing early before the Christmas holiday, the US stock market will operate as usual until the New Year holiday in January.

Also Read: Stock market holiday: Will BSE, NSE be shut for trading tomorrow on account of Christmas?

The next scheduled US stock market closure is on Wednesday, January 1, 2025, on account of New Year 2025. Similar to Christmas eve hours, trading activities on Wall Street will close earlier the previous day, i.e., on Tuesday, December 31. The previous US stock market holiday was observed in November on account of the Thanksgiving holiday.

World markets today

Wall Street stocks were modestly higher early Tuesday in a holiday-shortened session amid hopes for a year-end ‘Santa Claus rally.’ Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Tuesday in a truncated trading session before Christmas, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq up for the third consecutive day, helped by gains in a handful of mega-cap and growth stocks.

Five minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up a hair at 42,916.03. The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.2 per cent to 5,987.91, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.4 per cent to 19,847.55. The term marks a seven-day stretch encompassing the final five trading days of one year and the first two days of the next, a historically robust period for equities.

Also Read: Wall Street today: US stocks edge higher in truncated session, Broadcom up 1.3%, Nvidia adds 1.2%

Broadcom and Nvidia provided the biggest boost to the indexes, advancing 2.7 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively, while Consumer Discretionary and Technology led gains among S&P 500 sectors. With few major catalysts, thin trading volumes expected in the year’s final days raised the prospect of choppy trading.

Gains in technology, financial and other sectors tempered a pullback by health care, energy and other stocks. Traders were hopeful about gains this holiday season, although a jump in US Treasury yields loomed as a challenge. Treasury yields rose in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.62 per cent from 4.59 per cent late Monday.

European markets were mostly higher, and Asian markets mostly gained ground. Wall Street has several economic reports to look forward to this week, including a weekly update on unemployment benefits on Thursday. 

Also Read: US Fed lowers benchmark rate to 4.25-4.50% for third straight meeting, eyes two cuts in 2025; 5 key highlights

After a stellar run to record highs following the November US Presidential elections, which sparked hopes of pro-business policies under US President-elect Donald Trump, Wall Street’s rally hit a bump this month as investors grappled with the prospect of higher interest rates in 2025.

Last Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve eased borrowing costs for the third straight meeting but signalled only two more 25-basis-point interest rate reductions next year, down from its September projection of four cuts, as policymakers weigh the possibility of Trump’s policies stoking inflation.

Traders expect the US Fed to leave rates in the range of four per cent to 4.25 per cent by the end of 2025, from between 3.75 per cent and four per cent about 10 days ago, according to CME’s FedWatch tool. The US stock market is in a historically strong period. According to Reuters, the S&P 500, on average, has gained 1.3 per cent in the last five days of December and the first two days of January, according to data from the Stock Trader’s Almanac back to 1969.