Investing.com - Stocks in New York opened higher Monday, but trading could be volatile amid low volume ahead of the New Year’s holiday tomorrow.
The S&P 500 rose 0.65%, while the Dow was up 0.52%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.84%.
"It's a pretty illiquid day Monday ... so I don't think expectations for fireworks are too high," said Rick Meckler, partner, Cherry Lane Investments.
With the economic and earnings calendar’s blank, geopolitics could call the tune for trading again.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he held a "very good call" with China's President Xi Jinping on Saturday to discuss trade and claimed "big progress" was being made.
Chinese state media were more reserved, saying Xi hoped the negotiating teams could meet each other half way and reach an agreement that was mutually beneficial.
Among active stocks, Verizon (NYSE:VZ) climbed 0.26% and Disney (NYSE:DIS) rose 1.4% after the companies came to an agreement that avoided a blackout of Disney-owned channels like ESPN on the Verizon Fios cable network.
Canada Goose Holdings (NYSE:GOOS) soared 8.2% following reports of large crowds at its Beijing store, which opened doors Friday.
And Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) gained 2.2%. The company is planning on expanding Whole Foods stores across the country, The Wall Street Journal reported.
-- Reuters contributed to this report.