Dow futures remain steady as investors eye fresh record highs

Investing.com - US stock futures are showing minimal change this Tuesday night as investors closely monitor the benchmark index's progress towards a record high.

By 7:25pm ET (12:25am GMT) Dow Jones Futures, S&P 500 Futures, Nasdaq 100 Futures were each trading within a range of 0.1%.

During Tuesday's regular session, The Dow and S&P 500 each saw a 0.4% increase, bringing the latter within 0.5% of its closing high, a record set in January 2022. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced by 0.5%, while the more concentrated Nasdaq 100 rose by 0.6%, achieving a new all-time high and record closing level at 16,878.46.

These gains contribute to an already robust year for the stock market. With just three trading sessions remaining in 2023, the Dow and S&P 500 are set to finish the year with gains of 13% and 24% respectively. The Nasdaq Composite has seen a substantial surge of 44%, outperforming due to the resurgence of mega-cap technology and the growing popularity of artificial intelligence.

The stock market is currently experiencing the so-called "Santa Claus rally," a period that includes the last five trading days of the outgoing year and the first two of the new year. Historically, the S&P 500 has seen an average increase of about 1.3% during this timeframe, according to data from the Stock Trader’s Almanac dating back to 1950.

Investors will be closely monitoring economic data on the manufacturing industry due to be released on Wednesday.