Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., November 22, 2024.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stock futures were slightly lower in overnight trading Sunday evening ahead of the last few trading sessions of 2024.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 45 points, or 0.1%., while S&P 500 futures edged down 0.06%. Nasdaq-100 futures hovered near the flatline.
The major averages are heading into the yearend shy of record levels, with the S&P 500 and Dow up more than 25% and 14%, respectively, and on track for the best year since 2021. The Nasdaq has gained more than 31%.
The benchmarks are also headed for a winning fourth quarter, with the Nasdaq on pace for its longest quarterly winning streaking since the second quarter of 2021.
Investors are hoping that stocks will continue to rise into the year-end and the new year, and trigger what’s known as a Santa Claus Rally. The phenomenon refers to the market rising into the final five trading days of a calendar year and the first two in January. The S&P 500 has returned 1.3% on average during this period since 1950, according to LPL Financial.
However, some worries have mounted that the market may be losing momentum, with some year-end profit taking after the major averages notched losing sessions Friday.
“I think it’s long overdue,” Tavis McCourt, institutional equity strategist at Raymond James told CNBC’s Closing Bell on Friday. I would expect more as we get into January. We’ve had a tremendous amount of momentum into a narrow subset of names for the previous month.”
This week ushers in a light period for economic data, with the market closed Wednesday in observance of New Years Day. Chicago PMI and pending homes sales data are due out Monday.