US STOCKS-Wall St ends close to all-time highs in light, post-holiday session

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Wall Street ended a light-volume post-Christmas session nearly unchanged on Friday, with few catalysts to fuel much conviction one way or the other.

All three major U.S. stock indexes closed nominally lower, snapping a five-session rally, but logged weekly gains.

"We had a very strong five-day rally, so in a way we're just simply catching our breath today after the holiday," said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group in Omaha. "This is only day two of the official Santa Claus rally period, so we still have some time, and we think there's going to be a little more upward bias going forward."

Market participants watched for signs that a seasonal phenomenon called the "Santa Claus rally," in which the S&P 500 advances through the last five trading days of the current year and the first two in the new one, a period that began on Wednesday and will run through January 5. Such a rally would bode well for stock performance in 2026.

Just three trading days remain in a turbulent year in which tariff jitters, simmering geopolitical tensions, and the rapid growth of artificial intelligence-related momentum stocks took investors on a bumpy ride, but one in which the three major indexes, led by the tech-laden Nasdaq, are all on track to register double-digit percentage gains.

"It's a good reminder for investors that volatility is the toll we pay to get the solid gains we've seen in the last three years," Detrick added. "Odds are, 2026 is not going to be the first year in history with no volatility and no bad headlines. So you prepare yourself."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 20.19 points, or 0.04%, to 48,710.97, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 2.11 points, or 0.03%, to 6,929.94 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 20.21 points, or 0.09%, to 23,593.10.

Of the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, materials .SPLRCM enjoyed the largest percentage gain, while consumer discretionary .SPLRCD was the biggest laggard.

Year-to-date, communication services .SPLRCL, technology .SPLRCT and industrials .SPLRCI have outperformed the broader market. Real estate .SPLRCR seems to be the only sector that will have lost ground in 2025.

Nvidia NVDA.O climbed 1.0% after the AI chipmaker agreed to license chip technology from startup Groq and hire its CEO.

Target TGT.N rose 3.1% after the Financial Times reported the retailer is facing activism from hedge fund Toms Capital Investment Management, which has made a significant investment in the company.

U.S.-listed shares of precious metal miners such as First Majestic AG.N, Coeur Mining CDE.N and Endeavour Silver EXK.N rose between 1.2% and 3.0%, as silver XAG= and gold XAU= prices touched fresh record highs. GOL/

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.13-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 342 new highs and 66 new lows on the NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, 1,968 stocks rose and 2,605 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.32-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 20 new 52-week highs and no new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 46 new highs and 166 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 10.22 billion shares, compared with the 15.98 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.