The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction after ending the previous session mostly higher.
Many traders are likely to be away from their desks ahead of the Christmas Day holiday on Wednesday, leading to below average volume.
The markets are also scheduled to close earlier than usual this afternoon, which is likely to keep some traders on the sidelines.
A lack of major U.S. economic data may also contribute to light trading, as the release of reports on durable goods orders and new home sales was pushed forward to Monday after President Joe Biden signed an executive closing the federal government for Christmas Eve.
After showing a lack of direction early in the session, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Monday. The major averages added to the strong gains posted on Friday, further offsetting the sell-off seen last Wednesday.
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 climbed firmly into positive territory as the day progressed, while the narrower Dow posted a more modest gain.
The Nasdaq jumped 192.29 points or 1.0 percent to 19,764.89, the S&P 500 climbed 43.22 points or 0.7 percent to 5,974.07 and the S&P 500 rose 66.69 points or 0.2 percent to 42,906.95.
The advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq came amid a rally by semiconductor stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging by 3.1 percent.
Significant strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.
Outside the tech sector, pharmaceutical stocks turned in a strong performance on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index up by 2.1 percent.
Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued, however, as traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves amid what is likely to be a relatively quiet week due to the Christmas Day holiday on Wednesday.
Uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets may also have kept some traders on the sidelines following the volatility seen last week.
On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods slumped by much more than expected in the month of November.
The report said durable goods orders tumbled by 1.1 percent in November after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.8 percent in October.
Economists had expected durable goods orders to fall by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.3 percent increase that had been reported for the previous month.
Excluding a steep drop by orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders edged down by 0.1 percent in November after inching up by 0.2 percent in October. Ex-transportation orders were expected to rise by 0.3 percent.
Meanwhile, the report said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a key indicator of business spending, climbed by 0.7 percent in November after dipping by 0.1 percent in October.
A separate report released by the Conference Board showed an unexpected deterioration by consumer confidence in the month of December.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index tumbled to 104.7 in December from an upwardly revised 112.8 in November.
The pullback surprised economists, who had expected the consumer confidence index to rise to 113.0 from the 111.7 originally reported for the previous month.
The Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the results of this month’s auction of $70 billion worth of five-year notes at 11:30 am ET.
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