The broad S&P 500 index rose for the fifth day in a row, up 0.3 percent, closing at a new record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index ended up 0.2 percent.
Investors are hoping for a so-called "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.
Among the winners was sports giant Nike, up 4.6 percent, after Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that he was buying shares in the company.
On the tech-heavy Nasdaq, chipmaker Intel fell 0.5 percent after Reuters reported that AI giant Nvidia had halted a test to use the company's manufacturing process for advanced chips. Nvidia, for its part, fell 0.3 percent.
Of the major tech giants, Facebook owner Meta rose 0.4 percent, while iPhone maker Apple rose 0.5 percent.
On Thursday, Christmas Day, US stock markets are closed.
