The US stock market closed the short holiday week in near record highs. The major indexes were down slightly on Friday, due to a subdued post-Christmas trading session. However, the gains before Christmas have seen all three major indexes—the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones—rise more than 1 percent for the week.

The S&P 500 hit a new one-day high on December 24 as investors returned to artificial intelligence (AI) and technology stocks, while also raising expectations that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next year, helped by better inflation and labor market data. The S&P 500 index rose 0.2% to 6,920.88, slightly surpassing its previous record set in late October. Analysts predict that all three major indexes will end 2025 with double-digit growth, with Nasdaq, "rich" with technology stocks, leading the way. The S&P 500 has risen more than 17% so far this year, the Nasdaq more than 21%, and the Dow more than 13%.

European stocks also ended the short holiday week with near-record highs on December 24 and are now on track for their highest annual performance since 2021. This was driven by cuts in refinancing rates and an increase in German budget spending.

Gold and silver saw another sharp rise last week. Silver even briefly topped $80 per ounce, while gold neared record highs. On Monday, however, silver fell about 4.8%, while gold fell 1.4%.

Shares of Novo Nordisk rose 10% on December 23 after the US Food and Drug Administration approved the company’s weight-loss drug Wegovy, giving the Danish pharmaceutical giant a competitive advantage over Eli Lilly.

Among companies with a market capitalization of at least $10 billion, ABIVAX Société Anonyme, a biotechnology research and medical drug development company, posted the biggest gain last week. The company’s shares rose 23.81% for the week to $142.31 per share. Next is precious metals mining company Sibanye Stillwater Limited, up 9.64% ($15.70 per share). This top three is rounded out by Venture Global, Inc., a liquefied natural gas project development and energy infrastructure company, up 9.45% ($6.95 per share).

The top three large-cap companies with the biggest losses last week starts off with Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Inc., a provider of cryptocurrency mining and data center infrastructure, whose shares fell 9.73% ($28.31 per share) in one week. Next is Brown-Forman Corporation, a producer of alcoholic beverages, down 8.11% ($26.19 per share). And rounding out this top three is CoreWeave, Inc., a provider of infrastructure for cloud computing and AI, down 7.93% to $76.42 per share.

The US economy grew at an annualized rate of 4.3% in the third quarter, its fastest pace in two years. The main drivers of this growth were rising consumer spending and a recovery in exports, as well as continued business investment in equipment and AI. US government spending, especially on defense, also supported this growth.

Individual investors invested a record amount in US stocks in 2025. Individual investments rose significantly compared to the previous year and exceeded the amount of the trading boom of 2021. Individual trading accounted for about 20%-25% of total market activity. The most sought-after stocks were Nvidia, Tesla and Palantir, and many investors also used ETFs. Analysts predict that the impact of individual investors will remain significant in 2026, especially if the refinancing rate cuts continue.

US consumer confidence fell in December, reflecting growing concerns about jobs and incomes. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell 3.8 points to 89.1, below the 91.0 forecast. US consumers cited inflation, high tariffs, and geopolitical issues as key factors.

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