Stocks wavered on Wall Street in afternoon trading Thursday, as gains in tech companies and retailers helped temper losses elsewhere in the market. The S&P 500 was down less than 0.1% after drifting between small gains and losses.

Stocks shook off a choppy start to finish higher Monday, as Wall Street kicked off a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 ended 0.7% higher after having been down 0.5% in the early going. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also recovered from an early slide to eke out a 0.2% gain. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 1%.

NEW YORK — Stocks shook off a choppy start to finish higher Monday, as Wall Street kicked off a holiday-shortened week.

Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday after stocks in Wall Street shook off a choppy start to finish higher the previous day as it kicked off a holiday-shortened week. U.S. futures were little changed and oil prices rose.

Markets are scheduled to close at 1:00 pm Eastern time today, and will remain closed on Wednesday, as part of the traditional Christmas observances on Wall Street.