S&P 500 futures are little changed as index inches closer to all-time high: Live updates

S&P 500 futures are near flat Wednesday night as the benchmark index closed in on a new all-time high.

Futures tied to the benchmark index and Nasdaq 100 were both little changed. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 16 points, also near flat.

The action follows a modestly winning day on Wall Street. The S&P 500 ended up 0.1%, rising closer to record levels. The Nasdaq Composite added nearly 0.2% in the session, while the 30-stock Dow finished 0.3% higher.

While the moves were muted, they come as investors look toward to end of what’s been a strong year for stocks.

With just two sessions left in the trading year, the blue-chip Dow and the S&P 500 are poised to finish higher by more than 13% and 24%, respectively. The latter is within 0.5% of its highest closing level, which was set in January 2022

Meanwhile, the technology-heavy Nasdaq is on track for its best year since 2003, climbing more than 44%. That outperformance has been driven by the artificial intelligence craze and a rebound among mega-cap tech names.

The three major indexes are also all on track to notch their ninth straight winning weeks. That underscores the market’s late 2023 rally, rebounding off a negative third quarter.

“2023 was … good for investors to really test their patience,” said Michael Mullin, chief market strategist at Claro Advisors. “There’s a lot that happens in the middle, but at the end of the day, you can look back and be satisfied that you were an investor.”

Stocks are now in the middle of a period dubbed the “Santa Claus rally,” which refers to the last five trading days of an ending year and first two of a new one. The S&P 500 has risen about 1.3% over this timeframe on average, per data going back to 1950 from the Stock Trader’s Almanac.

Traders will monitor economic data on jobless claims and pending home sales Thursday morning.