Happy Monday. The markets seem to be fixing for a Santa rally. The market shut today to its third consecutive day of gains, buoyed by healthy showings in tech, healthcare, and financials. And with just a few days left in the trading year, it seems like an apt time to zoom out.
The Russell 2000 (+1.07%) rose over one percent today, bringing its year-to-date performance to 14.82%. Substantially all of those gains have come in the last six months, made possible by optimism around the Federal Reserve's rate cut schedule, allowing the index to catch up with some of its better-situated large cap companions.
Its recent gains have thrust the small cap index above the year-to-date performance of the 30-strong Dow (+0.47%), which up 13.68%. Recent gains also put the one-time laggard on closer footing with the Nasdaq (+0.52%) and S&P 500 (+0.64%), which are up 21.33% and 16.95% this year.
Monday Reading:
And the year isn't even over yet, even if this week will be an abbreviated trading week. The markets will close early on Wednesday for Christmas Eve, then remain shut on Thursday for Christmas Day. Next week will also see the market shut early for New Year's Eve, remaining shut for New Year's Day.
With less hours in the trading day, we won't see as many reports or earnings through year-end, giving traders -- and everybody else -- a little bit rest after a whirlwind year.
-- Noah Weidner, markets reporter
