Wall Street's main indexes drifted lower in light trading volumes on Thursday, as rising yields pressured some shares, while investors looked for a year-end boost from the so-called Santa Claus rally.

Stocks shook off a choppy start to finish higher Monday, as Wall Street kicked off a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 ended 0.7% higher after having been down 0.5% in the early going. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also recovered from an early slide to eke out a 0.