Overview
- Major indexes finished 2025 with double‑digit gains despite a late‑December pullback, with the S&P 500 up about 17% and the Nasdaq roughly 21% for a third straight year of strong returns.
- Gold and silver retreated after CME raised margin requirements again, though both notched exceptional yearly advances as the dollar weakened on rate cuts and fiscal concerns.
- Growth surprised to the upside with Q3 GDP at a 4.3% annualized pace, powered by heavy AI capital spending concentrated among large tech firms, with estimates showing AI accounted for a large share of 2025 growth.
- Labor conditions softened as unemployment reached about 4.6% in November, consumer sentiment stayed weak even as spending held up, and the latest claims data showed a weekly dip.
- Fed minutes from December underscored a split over further cuts given persistent inflation near 2.7% year‑over‑year, with markets eyeing 2026 data and a coming change at the top of the central bank.