Santa Claus still on Wall Street

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks inched higher in early trading Wednesday as investors looked to extend the end-of-the-year buying spree.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 79.79 to 12,487.42, Charts), the broader S&P 500 (up 7.30 to 1,424.20, Charts) index and the Nasdaq (up 13.30 to 2,426.81, Charts) composite all gained in the early going.

The New York Stock Exchange began trading after observing a moment of silence at the start of trade in honor of former president Gerald Ford, who passed away Tuesday night. (Full story).

The combination of the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the new year has been good for an average gain of 1.6 percent on the S&P 500 since 1969, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac. Going back to 1950, that period has been good for a gain of 1.5 percent.

Those seasonal factors kicked in Tuesday and seemed to be in effect Wednesday as well.

Strength in international markets added to the bullish mode, with Asian markets hitting record highs and European markets up at midday.

In corporate news, Apple (down $3.28 to $78.23, Charts) shares slumped on reports that it may have falsified stock options documents. (Full story).

U.S. light crude oil for February delivery fell 28 cents to $60.82 a barrel in electronic trading.

Treasury prices fell, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 4.60 percent from 4.58 percent late Tuesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

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