Despite choppy day-to-day trading, Wall Street capped a strong week, with the S&P 500 climbing 1.4% and both the Dow and Nasdaq rising 1.2%. Trading volume was thin as many investors stayed sidelined after Christmas and some hesitated to make big bets following the recent rally to record highs.

Looking ahead, trading could stay quiet next week due to the New Year's Day holiday. Still, markets may react to data on weekly jobless claims, pending home sales, and the release of minutes from the Fed's latest policy meeting. Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day.

Gold stocks saw significant strength, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index climbing by 1.4% to a new record closing high as the price of the precious metal also jumped to new highs. Steel stocks too displayed some strength on the day while airline and telecom stocks showed moderate moves to the downside.

Asia-Pacific stocks moved mostly higher, with several markets in the region closed for the holidays. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index added 0.7% while China's Shanghai Composite Index inched up by 0.1%.

In the bond market, treasuries gave back ground after an early upward move, closing roughly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, closed unchanged at 4.13%.

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