A trader wears “2026” glasses on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wednesday, December 31, 2025 in New York, USA.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
May this year be as profitable as 2025. S&P500 It rose 16.39% in some sectors, but mainly on the back of enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (looking at you all). oracle) weakened significantly as the year drew to a close.
Since US markets have only been open for one day so far, and most investors and analysts may still be drinking their New Year’s champagne (maybe it’s just me saying that myself), here’s a roundup of CNBC’s year-end retrospective that paints a rough picture of what 2025 was like.
The grandest prize among the Magnificent Seven goes to Google’s parents alphabet. Despite falling 18% in the first quarter, the stock ended the year up 65% as investors saw the company’s release of Gemini 3 as a potential competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Wishing you a fruitful year of trading!
What you need to know today
The US attacks Venezuela. The military operation that overthrew and captured the country’s President Nicolas Maduro was carried out on Saturday in the United States. The US federal government is indicting President Maduro on charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy.
Confusion over the future of Venezuela. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared on Sunday to backtrack on President Donald Trump’s claim that the US would “run” oil-rich Venezuela. Analysts believe that the energy market will remain stable in the short term.
US stocks were volatile on Friday. On the first trading day of 2026, the S&P 500 rose 0.19%, giving up gains of as much as 0.7% earlier. Stocks 600 Added 0.67%. british FTSE100 It breached the 10,000 yen mark during trading, but closed at 9,951.14.
BYD overtakes Tesla to become the top EV seller. The Chinese automaker said Thursday it will sell 2.26 million battery-powered vehicles in 2025, surpassing Tesla’s 1.64 million. This shows how Chinese EV makers are dominating the market.
(PRO) U.S. labor market data that sets the tone. The year begins with Friday’s December U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, which will provide market watchers with the first indication of how the economy is holding up.
And finally…
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying NASA’s IMAP mission to study the boundaries of the sun’s heliosphere and other scientific payloads prepares for liftoff at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, September 23, 2025.
Joe Skipper | Reuters
