NEW YORK — Wall Street rose modestly in light post-holiday trading today, but was still cautious about embarking on a year-end rally following dreary preliminary readings on holiday spending.

In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 40.54, or 0.48 percent, to 8,509.02.

Broader stock indicators also advanced. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.18, or 0.48 percent, to 872.33, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 3.98, or 0.26 percent, to 1,528.88.

Trading volumes are expected to be extremely low today as they were earlier this week. When trading is light, stock movements are often not indicative of broader market sentiment. Today is also likely to be a quiet day of trading because there are no major economic or corporate reports scheduled.

With just four trading days left in the year, no news has been upbeat enough to spark a year-end rally on Wall Street. December is usually a strong month for the stock market, with a flurry of trading known as a "Santa Claus rally" often seen in the month's final week.