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The Gap Between Christmas and New Year's Historically Means Slow Trading—But Solid Gains

The holiday limbo between Christmas and New Year's can be a blur for many Americans—and that goes for Wall Street, too.

Going back to 2019, daily trading volume on the major U.S. exchanges averaged 9.09 billion shares traded during Dec. 26 through Dec. 31, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That compares to the daily average during those years of 11.59 billion.

Things can get awfully sleepy: Only 4.58 billion shares traded on Dec. 26, 2019. The biggest volume day during the stretch was Dec. 31, 2024, when 14.12 billion shares traded.