Overview
- The seasonal window runs from Dec. 24 through Jan. 5, 2026, with the S&P 500 down 0.03% at 6,929 on the day yet 0.3% above its Dec. 23 close.
- Gold rose 1.1% to a record $4,529 per ounce and silver jumped 7% to $77.12, moves linked by one economist to Nigeria-related tensions and concerns about excessive Fed easing next year.
- Nvidia said it will buy Groq assets for $20 billion in cash, its largest acquisition to date, with founder Jonathan Ross and other Groq leaders set to join the company.
- CME FedWatch shows futures implying two quarter-point rate cuts in 2026, one more than the Federal Reserve signaled in its December dot plot.
- Defined as the last five trading days of December plus the first two of January, the Santa Claus Rally has occurred roughly 75%–80% of the time with an average gain near 1.3%.