2025 Recap | Precious Metals Shine! Nasdaq Registers Double-Digit Gains

Precious metals surged in 2025 with silver, gold rising 153% and 66%, respectively. Nasdaq Composite Index gained about 22% while S&P 500 jumped over 17%.

Precious metals shine

Bullion has staged a stellar run in 2025, climbing 66% so far. Interest rate cuts and bets of further U.S. policy easing, geopolitical conflicts, robust demand from central banks, and rising holdings in exchange-traded funds have fueled gold's rally this year.

Traders expect at least two U.S. rate cuts next year. Non-yielding assets tend to do well in a low interest rate environment.

Silver has gained 153% year-to-date, far outpacing gold, propelled by its designation on the critical U.S. minerals list, supply constraints, and low inventories amid rising industrial and investment demand.

Stocks register double-digit gains

U.S. stocks were on course to end 2025 near record highs, having notched double-digit gains in a tumultuous year dominated by tariff wars, central bank policy and simmering geopolitical tensions. Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 26% for the year. China's SSE Com rose 18.3%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 29%.

Dollas’s bad year

In the currency markets, the U.S. dollar was steady ahead of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's December meeting which is expected to showcase a divided central bank unsure of the policy path next year. The dollar index is on track for an annual decline of almost 10%, its steepest in eight years.

The yen hovered at 156.06 per dollar , some distance away from the 158-160 area that could trigger intervention from Japanese authorities. The euro was at $1.1777, on course for an impressive gain of 13.7% this year.

Rate cuts in the U.S and prospects of more next year have weighed on the U.S. dollar and helped Treasuries rally, especially at the short-end. For the year, Two-year yields were down almost 80 basis points.