Published December 24, 2014 1:14pm EST | Updated January 8, 2015 3:06pm EST

Stocks Finish Flat Before Christmas Trading Break

U.S. stocks finished the holiday-shortened Wednesday relatively flat just before the Christmas trading break. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 6.04 points, or less than 0.1%, to close at 18,030.21. The S&P 500 Index slipped 0.29 points to finish at 2,081.88. The Nasdaq Composite Index fared the best of the three , advancing 8.05 points, or 0.2%, to end the day at 4,773.47.