Stock market today: live updates

Stocks fell on Friday, led by technology stocks, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite erasing earlier gains in the holiday-shortened week.

The blue-chip Dow lost more than 500 points, falling for the first time in six sessions. The S&P 500 fell 1.3%, with all 11 sectors in the red. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 2%, while Tesla fell 5% and Nvidia fell more than 3%. Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet each fell at least 2%.

With the sell-off on Friday, the Dow and the technology-heavy Nasdaq turned into the red over the course of the week. The S&P 500 is up just 0.2% this week after posting its best Christmas Eve performance since 1974 on Tuesday, according to Bespoke.

A rise in Treasury yields this week could put pressure on stocks. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose another 2 basis points to 4.603% on Friday after the rate hit its highest level since May in the previous session.

“I think what you’re seeing today is a lack of confidence,” Alan Rechtschaffen, senior portfolio manager at UBS Global Wealth, said on CNBC’s “Market Movers.” “I think there’s a lot of noise about tariffs, there’s a lot of concerns about productivity.”

Still, some investors remain confident that stock prices will rise in the new year, driven by the so-called “Santa Claus rally.” This refers to the market’s tendency to rise on the last five trading days of the year and the first two in January. Since 1950, the S&P 500 has returned an average of 1.3% over that period, beating the market’s seven-day average return of 0.3%, according to LPL Financial.

“The country is breathing a collective sigh of relief after weathering a contentious election cycle and unusual market dynamics to end 2024 with strong year-to-date gains,” said Todd Ahlsten, chief investment officer at Parnassus Investments. “Looking forward to 2025, markets are expected to expand and improve.”

In December, the Nasdaq is on track for a 1.8% gain, driven by a rise in Tesla and Alphabet shares as well as a rally in Apple that is pushing the iPhone maker closer to a $4 trillion market cap brought. The S&P 500 fell 1.6% month over month. The Dow is on track for its worst month since April, down about 4.5%.