Stock market today: Live updates

Stocks rose Tuesday on Christmas Eve as the market sought to squeeze out back-to-back gains in the holiday week.

The S&P 500 added 0.5%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 120 points, or 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.8%, helped by a 4% jump in Tesla shares. Amazon and Nvidia gained more than 1% each.

American Airlines shares fluctuated after the carrier briefly grounded all flights in the U.S. due to a technical issue on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

Trading is expected to be thin this week. On Tuesday, the New York Stock Exchange closes early at 1 p.m. ET for Christmas Eve, while the bond market closes at 2 p.m. The market is also closed on Wednesday for Christmas Day.

The stock market began the holiday-shortened week on a positive note, aided by tech names and semiconductor stocks. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite closed Monday about 1% higher. The 30-stock Dow also finished up nearly 0.2%.

“There’s a lot of good to think about, but I think at the same time, you want to be restrained in your enthusiasm here because the market has rallied,” Paul Hickey, Bespoke Investment Group co-founder, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Frost ahead for the Santa Claus rally?

With few trading days in store, some investors are hoping for a Santa Claus rally to conclude what has already been a strong year for the market. And that’s not completely out of the ordinary. According to the Stock Trader’s Almanac, the S&P 500 has gained 1.3% on average between the last five trading days of the year and the first two in January, dating back to 1969.

But Jay Hatfield of Infrastructure Capital Advisors is calling for a bit of a stall in the market over the coming days. He is sticking with his year-end 2024 S&P 500 target of 6,000, which implies only a 0.4% increase for the broad market index from Monday’s close.

“We might get a Santa Claus rally, but those aren’t that powerful [of] rallies,” the firm’s CEO told CNBC. “We’re neutral on the market.”