Stock Market News for Dec 24, 2025

Zacks Equity Research

Wed, December 24, 2025 at 3:40 AM EST 3 min read

Wall Street closed higher on Tuesday for the fourth consecutive day supported by the strong momentum of artificial intelligence (AI) trade. Economic data released yesterday were mixed. All three major stock indexes ended in positive territory.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.2% to close at 48,442.41 after a choppy session. Notably, 18 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, 10 finished in negative territory and two remained unchanged. At intraday low, the blue-chip index was down 108.37 points.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 23,561.84, rising 0.6% or 133.02 points on the strong performance of AI bigwigs. The major gainer of the tech-laden index was Marvell Technology Inc. MRVL. The stock price of the AI semiconductor giant was up 3.4%. Marvell Technology currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The S&P 500 gained 0.4% to finish at 6,909.79, marking a new all-time closing high. Eight out of 11 broad-sectors of the broad-market index ended in positive territory while three ended in negative territory. The Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF) rose 0.9%. On the other hand, the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) slipped 1.1%.

The fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 0.6% to 14. A total of 14.01 billion shares were traded on Tuesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 16.67 billion. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.02-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 1.6-to-1 ratio favored declining issues.

The AI saga, supported by the massive growth of cloud computing and data centers, is yet to fully unfold. This space remains rock solid supported by an extremely bullish demand scenario. The demand for data center capacity surged to manage and store the vast amount of cloud computing-based data.

Four of the “magnificent 7” stocks have decided to invest a massive $380 billion in 2025 as capital expenditure for AI-infrastructure development. This marks a significant 54% year-over-year increase in capital spending on the AI ecosystem. Moreover, these companies have also said that AI capex is likely to increase handsomely in 2026.

The Department of Commerce reported that the U.S. GDP growth rate for third-quarter 2025 jumped unexpectedly to 4.3% from 3.8% in the previous quarter. The consensus estimate was 3.2%. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index — the favorite inflation gauge of the Fed — increased 2.8% in the third quarter compared with 2.1% in the previous quarter. Core PCE (excluding volatile food and energy items) price index increased 2.9% compared with 2.6% in the prior quarter.