DJIA Inches Higher, But S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Fall Slightly in Slow Post-Christmas Session

The DJIA gained 28.77 points (0.07%) to a 43,325.8 preliminary close as of shortly after 4 p.m. ET, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Comp gave up earlier small gains in the session's final moments to turn negative for the day.

The Nasdaq ended 10.77 ticks lower (0.05%) at a preliminary 20,020.36, while the S&P 500 shed 2.45 points (0.04%) to a 6,037.59 unofficial finish.

Wall Street had a quiet session that followed Christmas Day, when saw the market remain closed for the holiday. Trading also shut down three hours early on Tuesday for Christmas Eve.

As for Thursday's session, the market received little significant news other than U.S. weekly initial jobless claims, which fell by 1,000 for the week ended Dec. 21 to a seasonally adjusted 219,000. That was lower than the 224,000 that economists had reportedly expected.

However, continuing claims gained 46,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.91 million for the week ended Dec. 14, hitting their highest level since November 2021. Experts had reportedly only forecast 1.88 million such claims.