US stocks trade mixed as Santa Claus rally remains elusive despite China's further reopening

• US stocks finished mixed to begin the final week of trading for 2022 as the so-called Santa Claus rally failed to materialize.
• The weakness came despite fresh signs that China is further shedding its zero-COVID policies.
• Tesla stock fell as the EV maker extended the slowdown of its Shanghai factory through January, according to Reuters.

US stocks finished mixed to begin the final week of trading for 2022 as the so-called Santa Claus rally that typically closes out each year failed to materialize.

The weakness came despite fresh signs that China is further shedding its zero-COVID policies. Beijing announced Monday that starting on January 8, inbound travellers will no longer face quarantine requirements. Still, China faces a massive spike in infections.  

Russian President Vladimir Putin banned oil sales to countries participating the West's price cap, after the Kremlin's finance minister said it is hurting Moscow's export revenue. 

Here's where US indexes stood as the market closed at 4 p.m. on Tuesday: 

• S&P 500: 3,829.25, down 0.4%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,241.56, up 0.1% (38 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 10,353.23, down 1.4%

Here's what else is going on: 

• The S&P 500 is coming off of three consecutive losing weeks, and the index's 10 biggest losers this year have erased $1.6 trillion in market value.
• FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried bought Robinhood stock using hundreds of millions of dollars from his trading firm Alameda Research.
• FTX customers sent money to a fake electronics retailer with a website full of misspelled words that was key to funding SBF's Alameda, NBC News reported.
• Elon Musk has lost $132 billion in 2022 after Tesla's 68% crash, but that still makes him the world's second richest person.
• Tesla stock fell as the EV maker extended the slowdown of its Shanghai factory through January, Reuters reported.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto: 

• Oil prices were mixed, with West Texas Intermediate essentially flat at $79.55 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 0.51% to $84.35 a barrel.
• Gold rallied 1% to $1,821.50 per ounce.
• The 10-year yield jumped 10 basis points to 3.849%.
• Bitcoin dipped 0.94% to $16,679.