The Santa Claus rally got off to a jolly start in Tuesday’s holiday-shortened session.
The Dow rose about 391 points, or 0.9%, through the 1 p.m. ET close. The S&P 500 closed up 1.1%. Only about 40 S&P 500 stocks declined on the day, and all 11 S&P 500 sectors closed higher.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.4%. The Nasdaq Composite marked its best trading day before Christmas since 2000, when it rose 7.6% on Dec. 22, according to Dow Jones Market Data. (Christmas Day was on a Monday that year.)