Trader Michael Pistillo donned “2026” glasses on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange as the market approached the year’s end, marking December 31, 2025. Despite a mild retreat in the final session, the S&P 500 wrapped up a prosperous year, closing down 0.74% at 6,845.50. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.76%, finishing at 23,241.99, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 303.77 points, or 0.63%, settling at 48,063.29. This minor downturn extended a four-session losing streak, yet the S&P 500 achieved a commendable annual gain of 16.39%, marking its third consecutive year of double-digit gains.
The positive performance of the Nasdaq Composite was particularly noteworthy, driven by enduring enthusiasm around artificial intelligence (AI), culminating in a remarkable 20.36% increase for the year. The Dow, although up 12.97%, faced hurdles due to its limited representation of technology stocks. This year’s gains are a strong recovery from the significant drop experienced in early April, following the announcement of sweeping tariffs by President Donald Trump. At one point, the S&P 500 was perilously close to entering bear market territory, having plummeted nearly 19% from its February peak and closing below 5,000 for the first time since April 2024.
Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments, pointed out that lessons learned from 2025 could help stabilize the market moving forward. “The market is now able to look past any tariff shifts in 2026, banking on the administration remembering those lessons from 2025 and corporate America being able to adjust on the fly,” he stated. However, the recent sell-off raises concerns as investors typically expect a “Santa Claus” rally during the final trading days of the year, with many strategists anticipating another double-digit advance for the S&P 500 in 2026. Despite this optimism, there are worries that stocks might remain range-bound as corporate earnings strive to catch up with elevated valuations.
The AI narrative has significantly shaped the market landscape over the past three years, with the S&P 500 soaring 24% in 2023, spurred by the launch of ChatGPT. This momentum continued into 2024 with an additional 23% increase. However, the narrative shifted this year, broadening beyond AI to include other sectors. Performance among the so-called “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks was mixed; Alphabet led the way with a 65.4% year-to-date increase, while Amazon lagged with a mere 5.2% gain.
Outside the major tech players, various asset classes surged, particularly commodities. Gold prices soared over 64%, while silver jumped an impressive 141%. Buchanan noted a shift in market dynamics, suggesting that “2026 could look very different than 2025, even more so than 2023 and 2024.” He emphasized that the market will increasingly be driven by fundamentals, becoming less reliant on monetary policy and the ongoing AI infrastructure revolution.
As December concluded, the Dow celebrated a positive month with a 0.7% increase, marking its eighth consecutive winning month-a streak not seen since 2018. In contrast, the S&P 500 ended the month nearly flat, while the Nasdaq registered a 0.5% decline.
— Contributions from CNBC’s Alex Harring and Chris Hayes.
Original Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/30/stock-market-today-live-updates.html
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Publish Date: 2026-01-01 03:02:00
