Monday, stocks around the world closed little changed. Volume was light. Precious metals gained 1% but their miners shot 4% higher. Apple closed well above the 280 benchmark. All four major indices closed to log record highs again.
Tuesday, stocks closed down slightly in Asia but closed little changed in Europe and the U.S. on less than half normal volume as the trading day closed three hours early. Still, the NASDAQ eked out a positive close to log another record closing high. Precious metals gained 1% and their miners moved up three times that amount.
Wednesday, Christmas Day, stocks in Asia closed up slightly. Markets in Europe and the U.S. were closed for the holiday. Thursday, stocks in Asia and Europe closed little changed. In the U.S., stocks rose 0.3% on very low volume. All four major stock indices registered record closing highs. The NASDAQ closed above the 9000 benchmark. Precious metals gained 1%. Their miners moved up about twice that amount.
Friday, stocks rose 0.7% in Asia, gained slightly in Europe, and were little changed in the U.S. on low volume. The VXO rose 7% to close at 12.79. The 10-Year U.S. Treasury bond yield fell 2% to close at 1.87. The Dow, S&P 500, and NYSE logged record closing highs.