Wall Street Ends Higher On Shortened Trading Week

Stocks notched more gains on Tuesday as Wall Street kicked off what's expected to be a quiet, holiday-shortened week of trading.

The latest gains were widespread, with advancers outnumbering decliners by nearly 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange. I Photo: New York Stock Exchange Facebook

The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, finishing less than 0.5% below its all-time high set nearly two years ago. The benchmark index is coming off eight straight weekly gains, its longest winning streak since 2017, as reported by Alex Veiga for the Associated Press (AP).

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%, while the Nasdaq composite ended 0.5% higher. Trading was relatively light as U.S. markets reopened following the Christmas Day holiday.

Still, the latest gains were widespread, with advancers outnumbering decliners by nearly 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Shanghai’s benchmark led losses in Asia on heavy selling of technology and computer chip-related shares as worries revived over trade tensions with the U.S. and other Western countries.

A number of video gaming companies announced share buybacks to shore up prices after Chinese regulators issued draft guidelines on Friday that caused shares in game makers like Tencent and Netease to plunge.

Hong Kong markets were closed Tuesday, so the impact of an effort by Beijing on Monday to cushion the impact of the new rules by voicing support for the industry and announcing the approval of more than 100 games was unclear.

The Shanghai Composite index sank 0.7%. In Shenzhen, where relatively more high-tech companies are listed, the A-share index lost 1.2%.

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