United States stock futures were little changed on Tuesday night (Wednesday AEDT), as Wall Street prepared to close out the final trading day of 2025 and mark the third year of an extended bull market.
By 10:35 am AEDT (11:35 pm GMT), futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 were all trading within a narrow range of ±0.1%.
The flat futures followed a third consecutive losing session for equities. During Tuesday's regular session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%, the S&P 500 eased 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.2%.
Despite the recent softness, the broader market has delivered strong gains over the past three years, largely driven by enthusiasm around artificial intelligence.
In 2023, the S&P 500 surged 24% following the debut of ChatGPT, which sparked heavy investor interest in companies expected to benefit from a technological shift comparable to the early days of the internet.
That momentum carried into 2024, when the benchmark index climbed a further 23%.
As of Tuesday’s close in 2025, the S&P 500 was up more than 17% and hovering near record highs.
The AI-led rally, however, became more fragmented this year, as gains broadened across other sectors and performance among the so-called Magnificent Seven technology stocks diverged.
Alphabet emerged as the standout performer, rising more than 65% year to date on optimism that it could gain ground on OpenAI, while Amazon lagged, advancing by roughly 6%.
Commodities also enjoyed a standout year, with gold up more than 66% and silver soaring by more than 165%, reflecting strong investor demand amid economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
On a monthly basis, U.S. equities were also on track to finish December higher. The Dow was up 1.4% month to date, marking its eighth consecutive monthly gain, its longest such streak since 2018. The S&P 500 was higher by 0.7%, also notching an eighth straight winning month, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.2%, its eighth positive month in the past nine.
