Stock futures were flat early Tuesday after all three major averages kicked off the holiday-shortened trading week in the green.

Futures linked to the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures remained around the flatline. Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.04%.

This comes amid what is expected to be a more toned-down week for trading activity. On Tuesday, the New York Stock Exchange closes early at 1 p.m. ET for Christmas Eve, while the bond market closes at 2 p.m. The market is also closed on Wednesday for Christmas Day.

Monday was a relatively sparse day of trading, with the S&P 500 rising around 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite closing about 1% higher. The 30-stock Dow also finished up nearly 0.2%.

Tech names and semiconductor stocks were among the big winners of the day, lifting the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Meta Platforms jumped more than 2% and Broadcom advanced more than 5%, while Nvidia rose 3.7%.

Elsewhere, Honda and Xerox each finished the session more than 12% higher. The Japanese automaker announced it has entered into official merger talks with fellow Japanese automaker Nissan. Xerox said it is going to buy printer maker Lexmark in a deal valued at $1.5 billion.

That said, the day was still affected by weak economic data. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 104.7 in December. The reading missed the Dow Jones estimate of 113.0 and marked the index's lowest level since September's reading of 98.7. Additionally, orders for durable goods fell 1.1% in November, which is the largest month-over-month decline since June.

Frost ahead for the Santa Claus rally?

With few trading days in store, some investors are hoping for a Santa Claus rally to conclude what has already been a strong year for the market. And that's not completely out of the ordinary. According to the Stock Trader's Almanac, the S&P 500 has gained 1.3% on average between the last five trading days of the year and the first two in January, dating back to 1969.

But Jay Hatfield of Infrastructure Capital Advisors is calling for a bit of a stall in the market over the coming days. He is sticking with his year-end 2024 S&P 500 target of 6,000, which implies only a 0.4% increase for the broad market index from Monday's close.

"We might get a Santa Claus rally, but those aren't that powerful [of] rallies," the firm's CEO told CNBC. "We're neutral on the market."

Big retail ETF limps into the holiday season

It's been a rocky December for the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT), which is off more than 3% this month alone.

Notable losers in the ETF during the period include Signet Jewelers, down 19%, and Foot Locker, which is off more than 14% in December. Clothing company Guess is also off 13% this month.

Not all constituents in the retail ETF are on pace for a losing month, however. The top performer of the bunch is Ollie's Bargain Outlet, up nearly 19% in December. Academy Sports and Outdoors and Five Below are each up 16% this month.

—Jason Gewirtz, Darla Mercado

Investors are 'too pessimistic about inflation,' Jay Hatfield says

The inflationary pressures that could likely come as a result of President-elect Donald Trump's tariff plans may not be all that impactful, according to Infrastructure Capital Advisors' Jay Hatfield.

The firm's CEO thinks investors may be missing the deflationary element present in the dollar's gains. His remarks come as the dollar index, which inched higher on Monday, has risen more than 6% year to date.

"In general, investors are too optimistic about growth and too pessimistic about inflation," Hatfield said in an interview with CNBC. "It's kind of irrational for investors to fear inflation from tariffs, but yet the dollar has already wiped out all of the potential – or most of the potential – increase in prices."

Late last month, Trump vowed to raise tariffs by an additional 10% on goods from China, as well as a 25% duty on goods from Mexico and Canada.

During his campaign for president, Trump threatened imposing a tariff of 60% on Chinese goods.

"If the Trump administration raises tariffs 10%, but the dollar is appreciated 10%, that shouldn't have any significant impact," Hatfield continued.

— Sean Conlon

Stock futures open little changed

U.S. stock futures opened relatively unchanged Monday evening.

S&P 500 futures, as well as Nasdaq 100 futures, traded just above the flatline. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 31 points, or about 0.1%.

— Sean Conlon