US markets shook off early weakness and pushed higher on Monday, propelled by gains in Nvidia and some other large tech equities.

Stocks had been under pressure early amid concerns over higher US Treasury bond yields that impede year-end gains in a historically strong period of the calendar.

"Stocks didn't really have any direction in the morning, then we got this tech rally that just sort of drifted higher all day," said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.2 percent at 42,906.95.

The S&P 500 gained 0.7 percent to 5,974.07, while the Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.0 percent to 19,764.89.

Stocks dropped last week after the Federal Reserve signalled it expects fewer interest rate cuts in 2025.

But the market rose progressively in a quiet session with analysts pointing to low pre-holiday trading volumes.

Among economic releases, US consumer confidence fell unexpectedly in December amid concerns over the potential economic drag of new tariffs threatened by President-elect Donald Trump.

The US consumer confidence index slipped to 104.7 in December, down from a revised 112.8 last month, The Conference Board announced.

Qualcomm climbed 3.5 percent after a jury sided with it in a legal dispute with Arm over alleged breach of license agreements connected to Qualcomm's acquisition of Nuvia. Arm Holdings fell 4.0 percent.

Nordstrom fell 1.6 percent after Mexican investment group El Puerto de Liverpool and members of the Nordstrom family reached a deal that involves taking the department store chain private. The transaction is valued at US$6.25 billion, Nordstrom said.

Markets will have a half session on Tuesday, Christmas Eve, followed by Wednesday's holiday. (AFP)