British News Agency

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 25 points, or 0.05%. S&P 500 futures dropped about 0.05%, while Nasdaq 100 futures saw very little change. Leading US indices rose for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday, led by technology companies such as Google's parent company Alphabet, Nvidia, Broadcom, and Amazon.

The S&P 500 closed the regular session up about 0.5%, registering a new record close of 6,909.79. The index remained just below its intraday all-time high of 6,920.34. The Nasdaq Composite gained about 0.6%, and the 30-stock Dow closed the day up about 79 points or roughly 0.2%.

The US Department of Commerce released third-quarter GDP numbers. The numbers came in at 4.3%, surpassing the consensus forecast of 3.2% by Dow Jones. The report, delayed due to the government shutdown, initially led to investors lowering expectations for an interest rate cut early next year. However, according to analysts, futures on Federal Reserve funds show that there will be two rate cuts by the end of 2026.

Investors continue to hold hopes for the "Santa Claus rally" between the last five trading days of this year and the first two days of next year, between December 24 and January 5.

During the Santa Claus rally period, the S&P 500 posted an average return of 1.3%, with 78% of the results being positive. The typical seven-day average return of the market was only 0.3%, and the positive percentage was 58%.

On the economic front Wednesday morning in the US, investors will track weekly unemployment claims. The New York Stock Exchange will close early on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. ahead of Christmas Eve and will be closed on Thursday, Christmas Day.