Major stock indexes posted moderate gains in the final full week of the year. The week began with a continuation of the previous Friday’s rally, fueled primarily by large-cap growth stocks. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite led the advance, and the Russell 1000 Growth Index outperformed its value counterpart through Tuesday. However, this trend reversed after Wednesday’s Christmas market closure, as most indexes declined in the latter half of the week, trimming earlier gains.

On Monday, The Conference Board reported that U.S. consumer confidence fell in December to 104.7, down from 112.8 in November. Dana M. Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board, noted that “the recent rebound in consumer confidence was not sustained in December,” with the index returning to the middle of its two-year range. Both present conditions and future expectations contributed to the decline, with the expectations component—measuring short-term outlooks for income, business, and labor markets—seeing the sharpest drop, falling 12.6 points to 81.1. A reading below 80 is often seen as a potential recession signal.

Economic data released Monday also included a weaker-than-expected report on durable goods orders for November. Orders declined 1.1%, missing forecasts for a 0.2% increase, marking the fourth drop in the past six months. Lower orders for commercial aircraft and weaker-than-anticipated defense spending drove the decrease. New home sales in November also slightly missed expectations, with a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 664,000 versus the forecast of 670,000. Still, November’s figure marked an improvement over October, which had been impacted by hurricanes in the southeastern U.S.

Labor market data released Thursday showed initial jobless claims edged to 219,000 for the week ending December 21, the lowest level since mid-November. However, continuing claims rose to 1.91 million for the prior week—the highest since late 2021—suggesting that job seekers are taking longer to find employment.

U.S. Treasury yields moved higher heading into Friday amid light holiday trading, with the 10-year Treasury yield briefly reaching 4.641% on Thursday. (Bond prices and yields move inversely.) High-yield bonds saw modest gains on thin trading volumes, supported by equity strength through Thursday and a generally stable economic environment. No new bond deals were announced, and the primary market is expected to remain quiet through year-end.