Stock market today: Stocks drift higher as US markets reopen after a holiday pause

Stocks drifted higher on Wall Street in midday trading Thursday, as gains in tech companies and retailers helped boost the market.

The S&P 500 rose less than 0.1%. The benchmark index is coming off a three-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 19 points, or 0.1%, as of 12:32 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite was up less than 0.1%.

Trading volume was lighter than usual as U.S. markets reopened after the Christmas holiday.

Chip company Broadcom rose 2.9%, Intel was up 0.7% and Apple gained 0.4%.

While tech stocks overall were in the green, some heavyweights were a drag on the market. Semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, slipped 0.2%. Meta Platforms fell 0.9%, Amazon was down 0.5%, and Netflix gave up 1.4%.

Health care stocks also helped lift the market. CVS Health rose 1.9% and Walgreens Boots Alliance rose 3.3% for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks.

Several retailers also gained ground. Target rose 2.9%, Best Buy was up 2.1% and Dollar Tree gained 2.2%.

U.S.-listed shares in Honda and Nissan rose 4.1% and 15.8%, respectively. The Japanese automakers announced earlier this week that the two companies are in talks to combine.

Traders got a labor market update. U.S. applications for unemployment benefits held steady last week, though continuing claims rose to the highest level in three years, the Labor Department reported.

Treasury yields rose in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.61% from 4.59% late Tuesday.

Major European markets were closed, as well as Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia.

Trading was expected to be subdued this week with a thin slate of economic data on the calendar.

Still, U.S. markets have historically gotten a boost at year's end despite lower trading volumes. The last five trading days of each year, plus the first two in the new year, have brought an average gain of 1.3% since 1950.

So far this month, the U.S. stock market has lost some of its gains since President-elect Donald Trump's win on Election Day, which raised hopes for faster economic growth and more lax regulations that would boost corporate profits. Worries have risen that Trump's preference for tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation, a bigger U.S. government debt and difficulties for global trade.

Even so, the U.S. market remains on pace to deliver strong returns for 2024. The benchmark S&P 500 is up roughly 26% so far this year and remains near its most recent all-time high it set earlier this month — its latest of 57 record highs this year.

Wall Street has several economic reports to look forward to next week, including updates on pending home sales and home prices, a report on U.S. construction spending and snapshots of manufacturing activity.

___

AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed.