After trending lower over the past few sessions, stocks saw continued weakness during light New Year's Eve trading on Wednesday. The major averages all showed notable moves to the downside over the course of the session.
The major averages ended the day just off their lows of the session. The Dow fell 303.77 points or 0.6 percent to 48,063.29, the Nasdaq slid 177.09 points or 0.8 percent to 23,241.99 and the S&P 500 declined 50.74 points or 0.7 percent to 6,845.50.
The extended pullback on Wall Street came as some traders continued to cash in on the recent strength in the markets.
While the major averages closed lower for the fourth straight session, the weakness came after the Dow and S&P 500 ended last Wednesday's trading at record closing highs.
Despite giving back ground over the past few days, the major averages still posted strong gains for the full year.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq skyrocketed by 20.4 percent for the year, while the S&P 500 soared by 16.4 percent and the Dow surged by 13.0 percent.
Stocks showed a quick recovery after plummeting in reaction to President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs in early April and saw further upside due in large part to strength among big-name tech companies.
On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly dipped in the week ended December 27th.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 199,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised level of 215,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 220,000 from the 214,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Sector News
Biotechnology stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index down by 1.9 percent.
Considerable weakness was also visible among gold stocks amid a slump by the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index falling by 1.4 percent.
Computer hardware, brokerage, networking and semiconductor stocks also saw notable weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday, with several markets closed for New Year's Eve. China's Shanghai Composite Index inched up by 0.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid by 0.9 percent.
Meanwhile, European stocks moved modestly lower on the day. While the German markets were closed on the day, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index slipped by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries moved to the downside over the course of the session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 3.3 basis points to 4.163 percent.
Looking Ahead
Following the New Year's Day holiday on Thursday, activity may be somewhat subdued on the first trading day of 2026 on Friday amid a lack of major U.S. economic data.
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Business News
December 26, 2025 08:42 ET Third quarter economic growth data from some major economies including the U.S. were the main news in this holiday shortened week. GDP growth and industrial production data from the U.S. helped to boost morale, while the consumer confidence survey results were less upbeat. In Europe, the quarterly economic growth data from the U.K. drew attention, while the minutes of the Australian central bank’s latest policy session was in focus in Asia.