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2025 is all but over, and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) seems to want to end its winning year on a high note. Premarket today, the ETF is up 0.1%. If this tiny gain can hold just a few more hours, the Voo will close out 2025 with a 17% gain for the year.
Among other asset classes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up nearly 14% year to date, the Nasdaq is up more than 21%, gold prices have gained 66%, and silver — 166%!
Helping to sustain the momentum today is a strong jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor. Initial jobless claims for the week ending December 27 were 199,000, fewer than the 220,000 expected and 16,000 fewer than the prior week’s report.
Silver and gold
Speaking of which… precious metals investors have been put on something of a rollercoaster this week. Silver prices hit an all-time record high over the weekend, only to sell off Monday, bounce back Tuesday — and now they’re falling again Wednesday.
Premarket, silver is down 5.6% from yesterday’s close to $72.15 per ounce. Gold prices are down 0.1% at $4,339.89.
AI
Artificial intelligence gave the stock market its biggest boost in 2025, and two of the biggest names in AI semiconductor chips are so far outperforming the market again on 2025’s final day.
In premarket trading, Intel (Nasdaq: INTC | INTC Price Prediction) is up 1% on confirmation that Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA) has completed its $5 billion investment in Intel stock.
Over in Taiwan, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM) is also up 1% on new Nvidia has instructed it to increase contracted production of H200 AI chips for sale to China.
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