Stocks Close Out Third Year of Gains on Down Note: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Stocks and bonds slipped along with gold and silver on the last day of 2025, ending an otherwise buoyant year on a lackluster note.
The S&P 500 extended a stretch of post-Christmas losses, paring the benchmark’s advance for 2025 to roughly 16%. The Nasdaq 100 was down 0.8% on Wednesday, its fourth day of losses. Even so, both indexes have posted double digit gains for three consecutive years, notching their longest winning streak since 2021.
Gold and silver fell at the end of their best year since the 1970s. CME Group raised margin requirements on precious-metal futures for the second time in the space of a week following the recent bout of heightened volatility.
Investors, this year, have enjoyed blockbuster returns in a market that has been powered by optimism about the vast economic potential of artificial intelligence and primed by Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts. It hasn’t been a smooth ride, though, with traders weathering swings triggered by a range of forces including US trade policies, geopolitical tensions, concerns over lofty valuations and some uncertainty around the path of central-bank monetary policy.
“Describing 2025 as ‘resilient’ might be an understatement,” said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial. “The economy showed remarkable strength by overcoming higher inflation, a slowing labor market, fewer rate cuts than originally expected, and a sharp rise in the effective tariff rate. Despite these challenges, growth remained steady without slipping into recession.”
Looking ahead into 2026, market research firm Bespoke Investment Group cautions against expecting solid market performance during the first trading day of the new year. Since 1953, the S&P 500’s median change to kick off a new year has been a 0.3% drop, with gains less than half the time, according to a note by Bespoke. The stock market has also traded lower on the first trading day of the each of the past three years, the note said.
Beyond Stocks
Among other asset classes, US Treasuries posted their strongest year of returns since 2020. On Wednesday, Treasuries ticked lower, with the 10-year yield climbing to 4.17%.
There was little market movement even after the release of US jobless claims data on Wednesday. Applications for US unemployment benefits fell last week to one of the lowest levels this year. Initial claims decreased by 16,000 to 199,000 in the week ended Dec. 27, according to Labor Department data released Wednesday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 218,000 applications.
The dollar, meanwhile, was little changed on Wednesday after a three-day stretch of wins. Still, the greenback recorded its worst year since 2017, with investors saying more declines are coming if the next Fed chief opts for deeper interest-rate cuts.
In the crypto arena, Bitcoin suffered a loss for the year after erasing an earlier rally that had sent it to a record in October.
The digital currency has settled into a range of roughly $85,000 to $95,000 following a crash in October that has put it on pace for a first annual loss in three years. After kicking off 2025 with a rally that was spurred by optimism about the crypto-friendly policies of the second Trump administration, Bitcoin was hit by the uncertainty surrounding US tariffs.
What Bloomberg strategists say…
“2025 was the year when diversification finally paid off. Equities delivered, but metals took the crown on erosion of confidence and a repricing of policy risk.”
—Brendan Fagan, Macro Strategist, Markets Live
For the full analysis, click here.
Copper had its best year since 2009, fueled by near-term supply tightness and bets that demand for the metal key in electrification will outpace production. Oil closed out the year with its steepest annual loss since 2020 as the market confronts wide-ranging geopolitical risks and steadily rising supplies across the globe.
Corporate News:
Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. plans to once again reject a takeover bid from Paramount Skydance Corp., according to people familiar with the company’s thinking. Among the board’s concerns, Paramount has yet to increase its offer, which Warner Bros. earlier rejected as inferior to Netflix’s offer. Corcept Therapeutics Inc. shares fell after US regulators rejected the company’s drug to treat a form of high blood pressure. The US government has granted an annual license to TSMC to bring in chip manufacturing equipment to its facilities in Nanjing, China, Reuters reports, citing a statement obtained by the outlet. Coinstar LLC, the coin-exchange and cryptocurrency business owned by Apollo Global Management Inc., plans to repay bondholders next month as part of its surprise sale to a company that oversees investments for natives of Alaska’s far north. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 fell 0.7% as of 4:02 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.8% The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% The MSCI World Index fell 0.6% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1751 The British pound was little changed at $1.3480 The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 156.65 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 0.7% to $87,584.64 Ether rose 0.2% to $2,970.88 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced five basis points to 4.17% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.85% Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.48% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.9% to $57.43 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.6% to $4,311.88 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Macarena Muñoz.
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
