Trading Tapers: The S&P 500 & Nasdaq's Quiet Coast to 2024
If the stock market had a 'skip leg day' button, December 30th would be it. With Wall Street already halfway to their New Year's bubbly, expect the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to trade with the urgency of a sloth on sedatives. It's less about strategic positioning and more about keeping the lights on until the clock strikes midnight, making any significant moves about as likely as finding a parking spot in Manhattan on Christmas Eve.
This end-of-year slumber, however, comes on the heels of a truly impressive performance. December has seen robust monthly gains across the board, with the S&P 500 and Dow industrials notably eyeing their eighth straight month of positive returns. This remarkable streak, the longest since 2017, underscores a sustained bullish sentiment that has propelled major indexes to new highs, suggesting that while trading volume might dwindle, the underlying momentum heading into the new year is anything but quiet.
