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Little Christmas cheer on Wall Street
Major gauges open flat in last session before Christmas; Santa rally may have come and gone.
December 23, 2005: 9:48 AM EST
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks opened flat Friday morning as Wall Street was unable to build on this week's two-session rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 55.71 to 10,889.44, Charts) and the broader S&P 500 index (up 0.73 to 1,268.85, Charts) were little changed in the early going.

The Nasdaq composite (up 3.67 to 2,250.16, Charts) edged higher.

The market ended a four-day losing streak with gains Wednesday and Thursday in what investors hoped was the beginning of the traditional year-end rally for stocks after a generally sluggish December.

But some investors say that the market's year-end rally may have already come and gone in November, when stocks posted solid gains.

So far this year, the Dow is up about 1.0 percent and the S&P is up about 4.6 percent. The Nasdaq has gained about 3.3 percent year-to-date.

Friday's session may be a light one with some investors and traders taking the day or leaving early before the long Christmas weekend. Financial markets are closed Monday in observance of the holiday.

Among stock movers, shares of Wal-Mart Stores (unchanged at $48.60, Research) edged lower after the retailer was hit with a $172 million verdict late Thursday in a class-action case. (Full story.)

Albertsons (unchanged at $23.28, Research), the nation's No. 2 grocery chain, confirmed earlier reports that it broke off talks to be bought by an investor group and other retailers for a price reported to be $9.6 billion, sending shares down nearly 15 percent in early trade.

Meanwhile, Tommy Hilfiger (unchanged at $16.00, Research) said it agreed to be bought by private equity firm Apax Partner for $16.80 per share in cash, in a transaction value of about $1.6 billion. Shares of the clothing seller and designer rose slightly.

In economic news, orders for durable goods surged a much larger-than-expected 4.4 percent in November on a jump in civilian aircraft but non-transportation orders slid as defense outlays tumbled, a government report showed Friday.

Treasury prices edged lower following the economic report, with the yield on the 10-year note at about 4.45 percent. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The dollar rose versus the euro and yen.

Light sweet crude for February delivery lost 44 cents to $57.84 a barrel in electronic trading.

Gold edged higher to about $503 an ounce in Europe after breaking back above $500 Thursday.

In global trade, major markets in Asia closed mostly higher Friday, although markets in Japan were closed for the emperor's birthday.

European markets were higher.  Top of page

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