Investors are still sitting on a more than 25% gain for the year, and it’s arguable that the frenzied postelection bump pulled forward some of December’s typical gains. Nonetheless, the month’s anemic showing is atypical.

Yes. The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will both operate on half-day schedules, closing at 1 p.m., while bond markets will shut down at 2 p.m., and major U.S. financial markets will stay closed until Thursday’s normal trading session.

The Dow closed slightly higher on Thursday while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed lower in the second day of a so-called Santa Claus rally period.

The stock market is showing signs of resiliency in the Santa Rally phase of the year. Wall Street’s main indexes all closed higher on Tuesday, with gains in megacap and growth stocks bolstering benchmarks in a truncated Christmas Eve session.

Indian equity benchmarks open higher on positive global sentiment, with Sensex at 78,726.61 and Nifty at 23,810.25.