US stocks mixed in quiet trading

Wall Street extended its holiday lull last night, closing mixed as investors refrained from making big bets.

The market could not quite shake off last week's four-session losing streak, which was based on worries about higher oil prices and inflation and which thwarted the usual Santa Claus rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 29.07 at 8,332.85. The Nasdaq fell 8.78 to 1,339.53 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 3.99 to 879.39.

Today's trading was lacklustre due to an absence of major earnings or economic news and the fact that many traders were absent ahead of New Year.

The market has forfeited the so-called Santa Claus rally, which typically begins just before Christmas and runs to the end of the year.

Historically, the last two weeks of the year are robust for Wall Street as investors get optimistic about the new year.

But this year, rising oil prices have reminded investors that inflation could pose another threat to the uncertain economic recovery. Increasing tension in Iraq and an oil strike in Venezuela have already sent crude prices surging.