NEW YORK — Wall Street closed higher and reached more records Wednesday on a holiday-shortened trading day.
The S&P 500 index rose 22.26 points, or 0.3%, to 6,932.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 288.75, or 0.6%, to close at 48,731.16, and the Nasdaq composite added 51.46, or 0.2%, to 23,613.31
Trading was extremely light as markets closed early for Christmas Eve and will be closed for Christmas Thursday. Roughly 1.8 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, which is roughly a third of the average trading day.
Markets will reopen for a full day of trading on Friday; however volumes are expected to remain light this week with most investors having closed out their positions for the year.
The S&P 500 is up more than 17% this year, as investors have embraced the deregulatory policies of the Trump administration and been optimistic about the future of artificial intelligence in helping boost profits for not only technology companies but also for Corporate America. Some of the strongest performers this year include Nvidia and Micron Technologies, both companies that make chips or other components that power the proliferation of data centers across the country.
Much of the focus for investors for the next few weeks will be on where the U.S. economy is heading and where the Federal Reserve will move interest rates. Investors are betting the Fed will hold steady on interest rates at its January meeting.
The U.S. economy grew at a surprisingly strong 4.3% annual rate in th