What is the story about?
Benchmark indices on Wall Street fell for the fourth day in a row, to close out 2025 on a negative note and maintain the absence of a so-called "Santa rally", which generally occurs on the final few days of the year.
The Dow Jones fell over 300 points to close at the lows of the day, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended with losses of over 0.7% each. The four-day losing streak has meant that the Dow trimmed its gains for the year to 13.3%, while the S&P 500 closed out the year with a 16.6% advance. Led by the AI trade, the Nasdaq outperformed its peers, ending with a 20.5% gain in 2025.
This is the longest winning streak for the Wall Street indices since 2021, with the indices notching up three consecutive years of double-digit returns, a phenomena known as "three-peat". In some macro data released on Wednesday, US jobless claims for the week fell to one of the lowest levels of the year, declining by 16,000 from the previous week to 1,99,000, lower than the median analyst estimate of 2,18,000.
Gold and Silver saw heavy selling on the final day of the year, which did not prevent them from their best year since the late 1970s. Gold prices are back below the $4,400 an ounce mark, while Silver, after making a high of $84, is back down to levels of $70.
Bespoke Investment Group has cautioned against expecting strong returns on the first day of the new year. Indices have ended lower on the first trading day of the year in each of the last three years. According to their data, the S&P 500, since 1953, has dropped 0.3% on average during the first trading day of the new year.
For the new year, price targets for the S&P 500 range from as low as 7,000 to as high as 8,100.
Among other asset classes, while US treasuries had their strongest year since 2020, the US Dollar reported their worst year since 2017. For Bitcoin, it was the first annual loss in three years courtesy of the sell-off since October, while Copper posted its best year since 2009. Oil prices also had their worst year since 2020.
The Dow Jones fell over 300 points to close at the lows of the day, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended with losses of over 0.7% each. The four-day losing streak has meant that the Dow trimmed its gains for the year to 13.3%, while the S&P 500 closed out the year with a 16.6% advance. Led by the AI trade, the Nasdaq outperformed its peers, ending with a 20.5% gain in 2025.
This is the longest winning streak for the Wall Street indices since 2021, with the indices notching up three consecutive years of double-digit returns, a phenomena known as "three-peat". In some macro data released on Wednesday, US jobless claims for the week fell to one of the lowest levels of the year, declining by 16,000 from the previous week to 1,99,000, lower than the median analyst estimate of 2,18,000.
Gold and Silver saw heavy selling on the final day of the year, which did not prevent them from their best year since the late 1970s. Gold prices are back below the $4,400 an ounce mark, while Silver, after making a high of $84, is back down to levels of $70.
Bespoke Investment Group has cautioned against expecting strong returns on the first day of the new year. Indices have ended lower on the first trading day of the year in each of the last three years. According to their data, the S&P 500, since 1953, has dropped 0.3% on average during the first trading day of the new year.
For the new year, price targets for the S&P 500 range from as low as 7,000 to as high as 8,100.
Among other asset classes, while US treasuries had their strongest year since 2020, the US Dollar reported their worst year since 2017. For Bitcoin, it was the first annual loss in three years courtesy of the sell-off since October, while Copper posted its best year since 2009. Oil prices also had their worst year since 2020.
