The broad-based S&P 500 index closed in the red for the third day in a row, up 0.6 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index both rose about 0.5 percent.
Chip giant Nvidia climbed 1.5 percent. The company is reportedly preparing for the green light from the Trump administration to export its H200 chips to China in mid-February, Reuters reports.
Chip company Micron Technology rose 4 percent at the same time. AI-related cloud giant Oracle is also climbing ahead of Christmas, up 3.3 percent.
Some investors are hoping for what is called a "tomter rally," which refers to the stock market's tendency to rise during the last five trading days of the year and the first two in January.
"When this pattern is widely discussed, it can become a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy," Mark Hackett, chief strategist at Nationwide, told Bloomberg.
He emphasizes that the week looks set to offer a tailwind from tech companies and hopes that the US Federal Reserve will continue to lower interest rates, which, combined with Santa Claus expectations, could point to a strong end to the year.
