It's the final holiday stretch at the Biden White House. The theme is 'A Season of Peace and Light'

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's the final holiday stretch for President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, who has decked out the White House with some whimsical decorations to evoke the “peace and light” of the season.

The festive display includes a towering Christmas tree surrounded by an amusement park-style carousel, brass-colored bells and sleigh bells lining a hallway, and a ceiling design that mimics snowfall.

The first lady invited National Guard families to be among the first members of the public to see the decorations, which are based on the theme of “A Season of Peace and Light.” She also spoke at a separate event held to thank the volunteers who helped with the monumental job of decorating the interior and exterior of the White House.

“This would not be possible without your work,” she said. “It's been incredible to watch all of you transform this space year after year, and you traded time with families for hours of gluing.”

More than 300 volunteers spent the past week decorating the White House's public spaces and its 83 Christmas trees with nearly 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) of ribbon, more than 28,000 ornaments, over 2,200 paper doves and some 165,000 lights used on wreaths, garlands and other displays.

The official White House tree, a towering Fraser fir from North Carolina that was anchored to the ceiling of the Blue Room after a chandelier was removed, sits at the center of a colorful carousel with reindeer, swans and other animals bobbing up and down on poles. The tree is awash in twinkling multicolored lights and three-dimensional holiday sweets like peppermints and ribbon candies. It also sports the names of every U.S. state, territory and the District of Columbia.

Guests enter the White House beneath a rotating starlight and quickly come upon the Gold Star tree, honoring the families of fallen service members. The tree is made of six gold-toned stars, one for each of the six branches of the military, stacked one on top of the other.

The bells lining the East Colonnade hallway are meant to symbolize the sounds of the holidays. The ceiling and windows upstairs in the East Room are covered with reflective decorations designed to create the feeling of snow falling. Silhouettes of people holding hands decorate the bases of two large Christmas trees that flank the center door of the room.

Light shines through colored glass ornaments and prisms in the Green Room while paper doves in the Red Room carry messages of peace. Doves are also suspended overhead along the Cross Hall, which runs between the East Room and the State Dining Room.

In the State Dining Room, a starburst made out of sugar shines above the massive gingerbread White House, which includes snow-covered South Grounds dotted with dozens of twinkling mini Christmas trees and a scene of people ice skating in a rink on the South Lawn.

The sugary confection — which is for display purposes only and never eaten — was built using 25 sheets of gingerbread dough, 10 sheets of sugar cookie dough, 65 pounds (29.48 kilograms) of pastillage, a sugar paste, 45 pounds (20.41 kilograms) of chocolate, 50 pounds (22.68 kilograms) of royal icing, and 10 pounds (4.54 kilograms) of gum paste.

Military families from the USS Delaware and the USS Gabrielle Giffords, two Navy vessels that Jill Biden sponsors, to make paper garlands decorating the State Dining Room, including two large trees there.

As part of Joining Forces, Jill Biden's White House initiative to support military families, the first lady allowed National Guard families to be the first to experience the decor. She invited their children — girls in sparkly dresses and shoes and boys sporting bow ties — to join her on the stage as she thanked their parents for serving their country.

The Bidens' late son, Beau, was a major in the Delaware Army National Guard. He died of brain cancer in 2015 at age 46.

The Red Room of the White House in Washington, is decorated for the holidays, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The Red Room of the White House in Washington, is decorated for the holidays, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The East Colonnade of the White House in Washington, is decorated for the holidays, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The Vermeil Room of the White House in Washington, is decorated for the holidays, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The Library of the White House in Washington, is decorated for the holidays, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, is decorated for the holidays, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The East Garden Room of the White House in Washington, is decorated for the holidays, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The East Garden Room of the White House in Washington, is decorated for the holidays, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The East Colonnade of the White House in Washington, is decorated for the holidays, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The Library of the White House in Washington, is decorated for the holidays, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The East entrance of the White House in Washington, is decorated for the holidays, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Trees in the Cross Hall frame the doorway to the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, as everything is decorated for the holidays, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden speaks as first lady Jill Biden listens on the South Lawn of the White House during a ceremony to commemorate World AIDS Day with survivors, their families and advocates, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden accompanied by his family from left, Melissa, Hunter Biden, grandson Beau and First Lady Jill Biden, applauds during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in downtown Nantucket Mass., Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are kicking off December by drifting around their record heights on Monday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% in afternoon trading after closing its best month of the year at an all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 87 points, or 0.2%, as of 1:57 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.9% higher.

Super Micro Computer, a stock that’s been on an AI-driven roller coaster, soared 27.3% to help lead the market.

Following accusations of misconduct and the resignation of its public auditor, the maker of servers used in artificial-intelligence technology said an investigation found no evidence of misconduct by its management or by the board. It also said it doesn’t expect to restate its past financials and that it will find a new chief financial officer, appoint a general counsel and make other moves to strengthen its governance.

Intel rose 0.1% after the chip company said CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired and stepped down from the board. Intel is looking for Gelsinger’s replacement, and its chair said it’s “committed to restoring investor confidence.” Intel recently lost its spot in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to Nvidia, which has skyrocketed in Wall Street's frenzy around AI.

Stellantis, meanwhile, skidded following the announcement of its CEO’s departure. Carlos Tavares steps down after nearly four years in the top spot of the automaker, which owns car brands like Jeep, Citroën and Ram, amid an ongoing struggle with slumping sales and an inventory backlog at dealerships. The world’s fourth-largest automaker’s stock fell 6.6% in Milan.

Utility PG&E had one of the biggest drops in the S&P 500, 5.1%, after saying it would sell $2.4 billion of stock and preferred shares to raise cash.

Retailers were mixed amid what’s expected to be the best Cyber Monday on record and coming off Black Friday. Target, which recently gave a forecast for the holiday season that left investors discouraged, fell 1.9%. Walmart, which gave a more optimistic forecast, fell 0.1%.

Amazon, which looks to benefit from online sales from Cyber Monday, rose 1.1%.

The stock market largely took Donald Trump’s latest threat on tariffs in stride. The president-elect on Saturday threatened 100% tariffs against a group of developing economies if they act to undermine the U.S. dollar. Trump said he wants the group, headlined by Brazil, Russia, India and China, to promise it won’t create a new currency or otherwise try to undercut the U.S. dollar.

The dollar has long been the currency of choice for global trade. Speculation has also been around a long time that other currencies could knock it off its mantle, but no contender has come close.

The U.S. dollar’s value rose Monday against several other currencies, but one of its strongest moves likely had less to do with the tariff threats. The euro fell amid a political battle in Paris over the French government’s budget. The euro sank 0.7% against the U.S. dollar and broke below $1.05.

In the bond market, Treasury yields gave up early gains to hold relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed above 4.23% during the morning before falling back to 4.19%. It was at 4.18% as of late Friday.

A report in the morning showed the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted again last month, but not by as much as economists expected.

This upcoming week will feature several big updates on the job market, including the October job openings report, weekly unemployment benefits data and the all-important November jobs report. They could all help steer the next moves for Federal Reserve, which recently began pulling interest rates lower to give support to the economy.

Economists expect Friday's headliner report to show U.S. employers accelerated their hiring in November, coming off October's lackluster growth that was hampered by damaging hurricanes and strikes.

“We now find ourselves in the middle of this Goldilocks zone, where economic health supports earnings growth while remaining weak enough to justify potential Fed rate cuts,” according to Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide.

In financial markets abroad, Chinese stocks led gains worldwide as monthly surveys showed improving conditions for manufacturing, partly driven by a surge in orders ahead of Trump’s inauguration next month.

Both official and private sector surveys of factory managers showed strong new orders and export orders, possibly partly linked to efforts by importers in the U.S. to beat potential tariff hikes by Trump once he takes office.

Indexes rose 0.7% in Hong Kong and 1.1% in Shanghai, but South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.1%.

In Europe, France’s CAC 40 was mostly unchanged, while Germany’s DAX returned 1.6%.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

FILE - Pedestrians cross Wall Street in New York's Financial District on Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

FILE - People walk past the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Nov. 26 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)