Stocks closed slightly lower as investors returned from the Christmas holiday.

The S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq all fell less than 0.1% Friday.

Trading was light with institutional investors largely closed out for the year. With three trading days left, the S&P 500 has climbed nearly 18% this year.

Gold and silver prices continued to rise, with silver up nearly 8% due to supply constraints. Shares of Target rose after news of an activist investor stake.

U.S. crude oil fell 2.8%, while Treasury yields held steady. Markets in several countries remained closed.

On Friday:

The S&P 500 fell 2.11 points, less than 0.1%, to 6,929.94

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20.19 points, less than 0.1%, to 48,710.97.

The Nasdaq composite fell 20.21 points, or 0.1%, to 23,593.10.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 13.74 points, or 0.5%, to 2,534.35.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is up 95.44 points, or 1.4%.

The Dow is up 576.08 points, or 1.2%.

The Nasdaq is up 285.48 points, or 1.2%.

The Russell 2000 is up 4.92 points, or 0.2%.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is up 1,048.31 points, or 17.8%.

The Dow is up 6,166.75 points, or 14.5%.

The Nasdaq is up 4,282.30 points, or 22.2%.

The Russell 2000 is up 304.19 points, or 13.6%.