After some difficult sessions last week, traders are keeping their eyes on the chimney to see if the so-called Santa Claus rally will take shape this year. The seasonally bullish trend typically sees equities rise over the last five trading sessions of December and the first two trading days of January.

Yes. The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will both operate on half-day schedules, closing at 1 p.m., while bond markets will shut down at 2 p.m., and major U.S. financial markets will stay closed until Thursday’s normal trading session.

The stock market is showing signs of resiliency in the Santa Rally phase of the year. Wall Street’s main indexes all closed higher on Tuesday, with gains in megacap and growth stocks bolstering benchmarks in a truncated Christmas Eve session.

Indian equity benchmarks open higher on positive global sentiment, with Sensex at 78,726.61 and Nifty at 23,810.25.