The stock market rallied to record highs this week, with the Dow, the S&P 500, and the Russell 2000 leading the way higher more so than the Nasdaq, meaning this rally was driven by broad participation and not just the big tech stocks. We also saw positive sentiment from a weaker-than-expected jobs report suggesting potential Fed rate cuts, and all of this comes ahead of the new earnings season kicking off this week with the big banks set to report.

The S&P 500, the Nasdaq and the Dow all posted losses as 2025 wound down, partly due to profit-taking and a bit of weakness in the tech names. Overall, 2025 was a strong year for the market, with the S&P finishing the year up 16%, the Nasdaq up 20%, and Dow up 13%. Gold and silver rallied near the year’s end, with precious metals hitting highs before pulling back.

This past week, the stock market saw continued strength driven by AI enthusiasm (especially in chip stocks like Nvidia and AMD). Market strength was also driven by potential Fed rate cut hopes from softer inflation numbers as reported by the CPI, and rising precious metals (especially silver). Metals related stocks and ETFs rose in sympathy. FCX had a great week thanks to the rise in copper. GDX also saw substantial gains due to the rise in gold.