Day traders' after-market lounge December 27

Thanks afternoon crew.

End-of-day summary:

The share market posted its longest winning run in more than five weeks as the repairwork from last week's three-month low continued after the Christmas break.

The ASX 200 rallied 41 points or 0.5% to a third straight gain. Gold miners, consumer stocks and banks provided some of the day's best returns.

Small caps and spec stocks outperformed during one of the lowest-participation sessions of the year. With institutional investors mostly absent, the likes of GCM, MTM, AXE, ATH, SNT and TVN swept to double-digit gains.

US stocks mostly marked time overnight following three straight advances in the run-up to the Christmas break. The S&P 500 eased 0.04% after rallying 1.1% on Christmas Eve.