US stocks drift to more records on a holiday-shortened day of trading

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street closed higher and reached more records Wednesday on a holiday-shortened trading day.

The S&P 500 index rose 22.26 points, or 0.3%, to 6,932.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 288.75, or 0.6%, to close at 48,731.16, and the Nasdaq composite added 51.46, or 0.2%, to 23,613.31

Trading was extremely light as markets closed early for Christmas Eve and will be closed for Christmas Thursday. Roughly 1.8 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, which is roughly a third of the average trading day.

Markets will reopen for a full day of trading on Friday; however volumes are expected to remain light this week with most investors having closed out their positions for the year.

The S&P 500 is up more than 17% this year, as investors have embraced the deregulatory policies of the Trump administration and been optimistic about the future of artificial intelligence in helping boost profits for not only technology companies but also for Corporate America. Some of the strongest performers this year include Nvidia and Micron Technologies, both companies that make chips or other components that power the proliferation of data centers across the country.

Much of the focus for investors for the next few weeks will be on where the U.S. economy is heading and where the Federal Reserve will move interest rates. Investors are betting the Fed will hold steady on interest rates at its January meeting.

The U.S. economy grew at a surprisingly strong 4.3% annual rate in the third quarter, the most rapid expansion in two years, driven by consumers who continue to spend in the face of ongoing inflation. There have also been recent reports showing shaky confidence among consumers worried about high prices. The labor market has been slowing and retail sales have weakened.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week and remain at historically healthy levels despite some signs that the labor market is weakening.

U.S. applications for jobless claims for the week ending Dec. 20 fell by 10,000 to 214,000 from the previous week’s 224,000, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. That’s below the 232,000 new applications forecast of analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet.

Dynavax Technologies soared 38.2% after Sanofi said it was acquiring the California-based vaccine maker in a deal worth $2.2 billion. The French drugmaker will add Dynavax’s hepatitis B vaccines to its portfolio, as well as a shingles vaccine that is still in development.

Novo Nordisk's shares rose 1.8% after the weight-loss drug company got approval from U.S. regulators for a pill version of its blockbuster drug Wegovy. However, Novo Nordisk shares are still down almost 40% this year as the company has faced increased competition for weight-loss medications, particularly from Eli Lilly. Shares of Eli Lilly are up 40% this year.

European markets moved between slight gains and losses. Asian markets were also quiet, with Hong Kong moving up 0.2% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.1%

Gold prices were flat at $4,502 an ounce, and silver rose 0.8% to $71.69. U.S. crude oil was flat at $58.38 a barrel.

Derek Orth works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A board above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange displays the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Anthony Matesic works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

FILE - A screen displays financial news as traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

A person walks in front of a chart showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

BRISTOL, Pa. (AP) — Construction crews worked to clear the collapsed walls and roof from a Pennsylvania nursing home Wednesday to help investigators find the cause of an explosion that killed a resident and employee, and set off a dramatic evacuation amid falling debris and shooting flames.

The Tuesday afternoon blast sent 20 others to hospitals, including one person in critical condition. The rest of the employees and 120 residents were accounted for after hours of searching the wreckage, said Police Chief Charles Winik of Bristol Township.

Survivors were transferred to nearby nursing home properties, the police chief and health officials said.

The Bucks County coroner’s office said the employee who died was 52-year-old Muthoni Nduthu. Authorities didn't immediately identify the resident who died. Both victims were women.

Officials said they didn't yet know the cause of the blast at the Bristol Health & Rehab Center, even though a utility crew had been on site investigating a reported gas leak when the blast occurred. It was so powerful that it shook nearby houses for blocks in Bristol, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Philadelphia.

A wing of the facility that housed the kitchen and cafeteria was almost entirely destroyed, with the roof caved in, sections of walls completely missing and windows on adjoining walls blown out. Debris littered the grounds.

Winik said the scale of the casualties could have been much worse. Police and firefighters flooded in from the region, as staff from a hospital next door and neighbors rushed to help evacuate the injured. One person was resuscitated at a hospital, officials said.

Firefighters braved a heavy gas odor, flames, collapsing walls and even a second explosion to rescue people trapped in stairways and elevator shafts and under rubble, authorities said.

“I’ve never seen such heroism,” Winik told reporters Wednesday. “They were running into a building that I could — from 50 feet away — could still smell gas, and walls that looked like they were going to fall down."

Some residents couldn't walk or speak, and some were in wheelchairs, the police chief said.

Nineteen people were still hospitalized Wednesday, Winik said. Federal agencies were set to assist in the investigation as crews removed the wreckage.

“Until we excavate the area and remove the walls and roof that collapsed, we won’t have any idea of what may have occurred in there,” Winik said.

The blast at the 174-bed nursing home happened shortly after a utility crew responded to reports of a gas odor at the facility, authorities have said. The local gas utility, PECO, said the crew shut off natural gas and electric service to the facility, but didn’t know if utility equipment or gas was involved in the explosion.

Willie Tye, who lives about a block away, said he was watching a basketball game when he heard a loud boom.

“I thought an airplane or something came and fell on my house,” he said. When he went outside, he saw “fire everywhere” and people fleeing the building.

State records show the facility was cited for multiple violations during its most recent inspection in October by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, including failing to provide accurate floor plans, properly maintain stairways and fire extinguishers on one level. Inspectors also cited the facility for lacking required smoke barrier partitions designed to contain smoke across floors.

Medicare’s overall rating of the facility is listed as “much below average,” with poor ratings for health inspections in particular.

Musuline Watson, who said she was a certified nursing assistant at the facility, told WPVI-TV that staff smelled gas over the weekend, but did not initially suspect a serious problem because there was no heat in that room.

The nursing home recently became affiliated with Ohio-based Saber Healthcare Group, which called the explosion “devastating” and said in a statement that facility personnel promptly reported the gas odor to the local gas utility before the blast.

Levy and Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Associated Press reporters Mingson Lau in Bristol, Pennsylvania; Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire and Michael Casey in Boston contributed to this report.

First responders are on the scene of a fire after an explosion at a nursing home in Bristol Township, Pa., on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (WPVI-TV/6ABC via AP)

First responders work the scene of an explosion and fire at Bristol Health & Rehab Center, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in Bristol Township, Pa. (Monica Herndon/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

Wheelchairs and other debris are scattered amid structural damage after a massive explosion and fire caused a collapse at a nursing home in Bristol, Pa., Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (Jose F. Moreno/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

A view of the structural damage after a massive explosion and fire caused a collapse at a nursing home in Bristol, Pa., Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (Jose F. Moreno/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

First responders work the scene of an explosion and fire at Bristol Health & Rehab Center, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in Bristol, Pa. (Monica Herndon/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

First responders work at the scene of an explosion and fire at Bristol Health & Rehab Center, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in Bristol, Pa. (Monica Herndon/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

Investigators work around Bristol Health & Rehab Center and surrounding rubble after a gas explosion the day prior on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025, in Bristol, Pa. (AP Photo/Mingson Lau)

Investigators work around Bristol Health & Rehab Center and surrounding rubble after a gas explosion the day prior on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025, in Bristol, Pa. (AP Photo/Mingson Lau)

A responder navigates around Bristol Health & Rehab Center and surrounding rubble after a gas explosion the day prior on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025, in Bristol, Pa. (AP Photo/Mingson Lau)