Wall Street remains optimistic. The consensus price target for the S&P 500 in 2025 is 6715, 14% higher than where the blue-chip barometer ended in 2024.

Stocks fell on Thursday, further dampening investor hopes for a Santa Claus rally this year. Historically, a weak beginning to the year hasn't been a good sign for stocks.

Stocks are stumbling into the end of the year. After falling 1% on Friday, markets are indicated lower by another 1% in premarket trading.

The odds of a rising stock market are not significantly different whether or not there is a Santa Claus rally. The absence of a “Santa Claus rally” does not doom the U.S. stock market in 2025. That period from Christmas through the second trading day of January marks the traditional definition of the Santa Claus rally.

Traders had hoped a banner year for the S&P 500 would end in a "Santa Claus Rally"—a run-up commonly seen over the last five trading days of a year and the first two of the next. While Thursday and Friday trading could bring a turnaround,

Yes. The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will both operate on half-day schedules, closing at 1 p.m., while bond markets will shut down at 2 p.m., and major U.S. financial markets will stay closed until Thursday’s normal trading session.

Santa Claus is leaving investors in the lurch once again in 2024 as U.S. stocks have struggled during the typically bullish home stretch of the year.

Wall Street is eager for a so-called Santa Claus rally to propel the S&P 500—up about 25% this year through Monday's close—to new highs. According to Wall Street lore, the stock market consistently rises during the final five trading days of the year and the first two sessions of the next. This year, that stretch starts today.

Santa might have a lump of coal for Wall Street this year. Stocks typically enjoy a so-called Santa Claus Rally in the period spanning the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the next.