LIVE MARKETS-A soft end to a strong year

Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com

A SOFT END TO A STRONG YEAR

U.S. stocks ended 2025 without enthusiasm with all the major indexes down on New Year's Eve though solid annual returns should still be enough to cheer most investors.

With this, the S&P 500 .SPX ended an eight-month winning streak. That said, the Dow .DJI rose for December, extending its monthly streak of gains to eight months.

The SPX, DJI, and Nasdaq Composite .IXIC have now all advanced for three straight quarters and three straight years.

For 2025, the S&P 500 .SPX ended up 16.4%. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC advanced 20.4%. The Dow finished up 13%. The small-cap Russell 2000 .RUT rose 11.3%.

Traders are left still waiting for the sound of sleigh bells with only two trading days left to see if a Santa rally materializes. This period, which includes the last five trading days of the year and the first two trading days of the new year, is currently tracking at -0.93% on the S&P 500 .SPX.

Volumes are expected to be light when trading resumes on Friday. They should pick up again next week, with jobs data for December likely to renew focus on when the Federal Reserve will resume rate cuts.

Here is Wednesday’s closing market snapshot:

(Karen Brettell, Terence Gabriel)

EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:

A CORRECTION IN TIME? STOCKS COULD BE CLOSE TO BREAKOUT CLICK HERE

POP THE CORK: JOBLESS CLAIMS DROP AMID SEASONAL VOLATILITY CLICK HERE

US STOCKS START OFF NEW YEAR'S EVE SESSION WITH LITTLE POT AND PAN BANGING CLICK HERE

AS SANTA RALLY SPUTTERS, ATTENTION SOON TURNS TO JANUARY BAROMETER CLICK HERE

FRESNILLO TAKES FTSE GOLD CLICK HERE

LONDON STOCKS MUTED ON FINAL DAY OF THE YEAR CLICK HERE

BEFORE THE BELL: EUROPE WRAPS UP 2025 ON A HIGH CLICK HERE