By Stephen Culp NEW YORK (Reuters) -The S&P 500 closed nominally higher on Thursday, retracing early gains just before the closing bell on the penultimate trading day of 2023. The benchmark index concluded the light volume session just 0.3% shy of its record closing high, reached on Jan. 3, 2022. The blue-chip Dow ended modestly green, notching its second record-high closing level in a row, while the Nasdaq finished a hair lower. All three indexes remained on track for monthly, quarterly, and annual gains. “This is one of the best end-of-year rallies we’ve ever seen and a lot of this rally hap…