Stocks wavered on Wall Street in afternoon trading Thursday, as gains in tech companies and retailers helped temper losses elsewhere in the market. The S&P 500 was down less than 0.1% after drifting between small gains and losses.

Indexes fell in their first trading day after Christmas as traders hope for a so-called Santa Clause rally to propel markets higher into the new year.

Wall Street's main indexes drifted lower in light trading volumes on Thursday, as rising yields pressured some shares, while investors looked for a year-end boost from the so-called Santa Claus rally.