Equities held steady near fresh highs for a second day in thin holiday trading. The S&P 500 hovered around break-even while trading in a tight range near Monday?s high. The move was without strength but consistent with a strengthening market and could lead to the additional upside when the holiday is over. Inflation has been a problem but economic expansion is underway.

Thursday?s trading may be more of the same unless some new news comes across the wires. There will be very few earnings reports or economic releases to move the market. The next big market-moving events will come next week when normal trading conditions resume to include the onset of the Q4 earnings reporting season and the monthly release of NFP data.