Wall Street’s main indices began trading this Wednesday, Christmas Eve, with slight variations, on a day of reduced trading. Investors are monitoring whether the market will be able to extend historic highs in a traditionally favorable period for stocks.
At around 12 pm (Brasília time), the Dow Jones increased 0.21%, to 48,541.77 points. The S&P 500 rose 0.07%, to 6,914.97 points, while the Nasdaq fell 0.06%, to 23,546.77 points.
The movement marks the beginning of the so-called “Santa Claus Rally”, which usually covers the last five trading sessions of the year and the first two of January. The advance comes after weeks of greater volatility, influenced by fears surrounding commercial tariffs, high valuations in the technology sector and intensive investments in artificial intelligence. Still, expectations remain for a soft landing for the US economy.
Indicators released this Wednesday showed an unexpected drop in weekly unemployment insurance claims, reinforcing the reading of a resilient labor market, with a low level of layoffs.
In the interest market, Treasury yields fell, with the 10-year paper rate falling three basis points, to 4.13%. The dollar operated close to stability, while the VIX index, which measures volatility, reached its lowest level of the year.
Bets remain concentrated on around 50 basis points of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in 2026, although the market assesses the chance of a reduction at the next meeting as small.
Among the corporate highlights, Nike shares rose around 5% following the news that Apple CEO Tim Cook acquired approximately US$3 million in company shares. Intel, on the other hand, recorded a drop after a report indicated that Nvidia interrupted tests with the company’s 18A manufacturing process.
The financial sector also helped support the indices, while shares linked to artificial intelligence staged a recovery after the recent correction.
