NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Santa continued to shower gifts on stock-market investors, as the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average once again closed at record levels.

The Nasdaq Composite closed at its highest level since March 2000.

The Dow industrials DJIA, -1.84% closed 23 points, or 0.1%, higher at 18,053, their 38th record close of the year, while the S&P 500 US:SPH5 gained 6.89 points, or 0.3%, to 2,088.7, its 52nd record close. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.13% gained 33.39 points, or 0.7%, to close at 4,806.8.

The Dow has gained for seven consecutive trading days, and enjoyed its biggest seven-day point gain since Nov. 4, 2008. The Nasdaq has been up for eight of the last ten weeks, while the S&P 500 has gained for nine of the past ten weeks. However, volumes for all three major indexes were the lowest for the year so far.

Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade, said he expects the stock market’s typical end-of-year rally to continue through next week, as the only important piece of U.S. economic data expected is the weekly jobless claims report on Wednesday.

Aslam added that low trading volume will likely help U.S. stocks to continue moving higher.

Friday’s records come after markets were closed Thursday for Christmas. On Wednesday, the Dow eked out its 37th record close this year in a shortened Christmas Eve session, ending at 18,030.21, after closing above 18,000 for the first time on Tuesday. The S&P 500 SPX, -1.15% halted a five-day winning streak that had brought it to a record as well, as it lost less than a point to close at 2,081.88 Wednesday.

The Dow industrials had the best five-day run before Christmas since 1991, while for the past five trading days of the year, the index is been up 93 times in 117 years, or around 79% of the time. Analysts also said the Dow trading above 18,000 as 2014 closes is an encouraging sign, even as some expect stocks are expected to dip in the New Year. Also see: Santa rally may be deterred by these three factors

European markets are closed until Monday. Asia stocks ADOW, -1.03% mostly rose, with a 2.8% gain for the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -0.63% , led by banks. Read: Why are China stocks going crazy?

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In other markets, the dollar USDJPY, +0.03% held steady above ¥120, while gold prices US:GCG5 finished the week slightly lower, but gained $22.10 Friday, rising to $1,196.30 an ounce.

Crude-oil prices CLG25, gave up early gains, as West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery fell 2% to $54.73 a barrel, while Brent crude UK:LCOG5 futures lost 79 cents, or 1.3%, to close at $59.45. Both are the second-lowest settlement levels of this year, after ones set last week.

Chris Faulkner, the chief executive of Breitling Energy, said he believes the “panic button” for Saudi Arabia to cut production is $40 a barrel.