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9:55am: Precious metals retreat Stocks edged lower Monday as Wall Street kicked off the final three trading days of 2025, a year that has seen wild swings but is likely to close with sizable gains. The Nasdaq led the retreat, falling 0.6% to 23,461, while the Dow Jones slipped 0.3% to 48,563 and the S&P 500 lost 0.4% to 6,905. The Russell 2000 was relatively flat, down just 0.1% at 2,533. Volatility was also evident in commodities, particularly precious metals. Silver, which surged to a record above $84 an ounce earlier Monday, plummeted as much as 7% amid a wave of profit-taking. Gold futures also pulled back more than 3%. “The final trading week of 2025 has begun, and so far, there’s not a Santa rally in sight,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB. “US futures are lower as the Magnificent 7 get hit, while silver is falling sharply after hitting record highs.” The pullback in silver came after a stunning 150% surge for the year. Speculative activity, including chatter on X about China’s latest silver export restrictions, added to the volatility, Brooks noted, as investors book profits before the year closes. Copper, meanwhile, reached fresh record highs as industrial demand and tight supply continue to support metals. In corporate news, SoftBank announced plans to buy US-listed digital infrastructure firm DigitalBridge for $16 a share in cash, a move that would expand the Japanese group’s footprint in AI-related assets. Elsewhere, Intel Corp sold 214.8 million shares to Nvidia Corp for $5 billion, a transaction highlighting the ongoing reshuffling in the tech sector. With 2025 winding down, investors are navigating a mix of end-of-year profit-taking, record-setting commodities, and major tech and infrastructure deals, setting the stage for what could be an equally eventful start to 2026. 8:10am: Santa Claus rally faces early test Wall Street futures were under a bit of pressure early Monday as US markets headed into the final three trading days of 2025. Tech was leading the retreat before the opening bell. Futures tied to the Nasdaq slipped 0.4%, weighed down by weakness in megacaps, with Nvidia and Tesla both down more than 1%. S&P 500 futures eased 0.2%, while Dow futures were hovering close to the flatline, suggesting a cautious start to another holiday-shortened week. The pullback comes after stocks wrapped up a shortened Christmas week near record territory. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow notched fresh all-time highs on Wednesday, kicking off the so-called “Santa Claus rally” — the final five trading days of December and the first two sessions of January — a stretch that investors often watch closely for clues about early-year momentum. Outside equities, volatility spilled into precious metals after a furious run to new highs. Silver retreated after surging above $80, while gold futures slid more than 1%, as traders locked in gains following the recent rally. Geopolitics were also on investors’ radar. China launched military exercises around Taiwan, a move that rattled US-listed Chinese stocks. Shares of Alibaba were down about 3% in premarket trading. On the corporate front, SoftBank Group was in focus after a report said the company is in advanced talks to acquire DigitalBridge, a private equity firm that invests in assets such as data centers. As for the economic calendar, it’s a relatively quiet start to the week. Investors will get a look at US pending home sales for November at 10 AM ET, one of the few data points scheduled as markets coast toward year-end. Continue reading
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