Wall Street stocks tread water in final session of 2021

US equities opened essentially flat on Friday, the final trading session of the year that has seen major indices score double-digit gains.

The broad-based S&P 500 headed into the last day of the year with an increase of more than 27 percent.

“It’s not quite a wrap yet on 2021 for the stock market, but the end is nigh. There’s no telling what today may bring, yet one can shout from the mountain tops that it has been a great year for the stock market,” Briefing.com analyst Patrick J O’Hare said.

He noted that not all sectors had a good year, and 74 of the shares in the S&P are lower for 2021.

“Some damage has been done below the surface, but the strength above the water line is indisputable and undoubtedly pleasing for index investors,” he said.

Investors have little news to trade on this week, but there might be a flurry of year-end activity in Friday’s session, one of very few major markets open.

About 30 minutes into the session, the S&P was treading water at 4,777.74.

The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average likewise was flat at 36,396.74 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was up almost 0.1 percent at 15,752.73.