US stocks hover at record highs in quiet trading; gold, silver jump

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NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are mostly flat in quiet trading on Friday as investors returned from the Christmas holiday. Trading is expected to be light.

The S&P 500 index was up less than 0.1% as of 10 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was roughly unchanged, and the Nasdaq composite was down less than 0.1%.

Institutional investors are largely closed out of their positions for the year. The S&P 500 has climbed nearly 18% this year, helped by the deregulatory policies of the Trump administration as well as investor optimism about the future of artificial intelligence on corporate profits.

Gold and silver prices continued to climb, with silver rising more than 4.5% to $74.88 an ounce. Gold was up 1.1%. Both precious metals have risen this year as investors have looked for safe havens outside of stocks and bonds, and silver has also risen sharply due supply constraints. Miners like Freeport-McMoRan were among the biggest gainers Friday.

Earlier surges in gold prices partly reflected worries during the U.S. government shutdown. Expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates further in the new year, weakening the dollar against other currencies, have also fueled buying of gold.

Shares of Target rose 2% after The Financial Times reported that an activist investor is taking a stake in the retail giant.

U.S. crude oil fell more than 1% and Brent crude also fell 1%.

Markets in Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia were closed. Most European markets remained closed Friday.