U.S. Stocks Climb Again in Santa Claus Rally as All Three Main Indexes Close at Records

U.S. stocks powered higher again Thursday, helped by reports of record year-end retail sales, though trading volumes were light and markets were closed in Europe, Hong Kong and Australia for another post-Christmas holiday.

Amazon led the market up, with the stock gaining more than 4% after the e-commerce giant said the holiday shopping season broke all records.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 105.94 points or 0.37% to 28,621.39 and has gained for 9 of the past 11 trading days to post a year-to-date rise of 22.69%.

The S&P 500 gained 16.53 points, or 0.51%, to 3,239.91 for a year-to-date return of 29.24%.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 69.51 points, or 0.78%, to a new record at 9,022.39 after posting a record close for a 10th straight day, the longest winning streak since July 1997. Year-to-date the Nasdaq has risen 35.98%