Wall Street Ends 2025 Lower, Yet Posts Yearly Gains
NEW YORK, Dec 31 – In a rather unpredictable end to 2025, major U.S. stock indexes finished the final trading session of the year in the red. However, despite this downturn, they still achieved solid yearly gains, mainly driven by ongoing uncertainty around tariffs during former President Trump’s administration and a burgeoning interest in AI stocks.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped by 0.63%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq followed with declines of 0.74% and 0.76%, respectively. Interestingly, all three indexes did register year-over-year growth.
This past year was particularly notable as it represented the third consecutive year of gains, with the S&P 500 seeing an increase of around 16.39%, the Nasdaq up by 20.36%, and the Dow at 12.97%. It’s also worth mentioning that the Russell 2000 Small Cap Index experienced an 11.26% rise.
Interestingly, the Dow had an impressive streak of monthly gains that lasted eight months straight—a record not seen since 2017-2018. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 had also capped off a solid eight-month run before ending December on a low note.
Despite the declines, the tech sector, driven by surging AI demand, pushed indexes to reach new highs during the year. For example, Nvidia, a key player in the chip market, has seen its stock rise by about 39% since the start of this year, even becoming the first public company to hit a market cap of $5 trillion.
On a different note, Nike’s stocks rose 4% following CEO Elliott Hill’s announcement of his $1 million stock purchase. Similarly, Vanda Pharmaceuticals surged after receiving FDA approval for a drug intended to combat motion sickness.
Trading volumes remained relatively low this week, likely due to the upcoming New Year holiday, with overall trading on U.S. exchanges only reaching approximately 11.17 billion shares—well below the 15.8 billion average seen over the last 20 trading days.
In the end, 2025 was a year of mixed emotions for investors. Though the year concluded with some losses, the overall picture was one of resilience and growth. Now, eyes are turning toward what 2026 might hold, especially with varying perspectives on the Fed’s monetary policies.
