New York Stocks Fall Across the Board on Tech Weakness... Silver Drops Over 6% After Surpassing $80

Correction Led by Large Tech Stocks as Risk-Off Sentiment Grows
FOMC Minutes to Be Released on the 30th
International Silver Prices Fall Over 6% After Hitting All-Time High

All three major indexes on the New York Stock Exchange began the first trading day of the final week of 2025, December 29 (local time), with declines. As the year-end approaches, profit-taking is leading to a risk-off sentiment, particularly among large-cap technology stocks. The price of silver, after reaching an all-time high, is now trending lower.

Traders are working on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in the United States. Photo by AFP

As of 9:35 a.m. on the New York Stock Exchange, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 78.77 points (0.16%) at 48,632.2 compared to the previous session. The S&P 500 index, which focuses on large-cap stocks, had dropped 21.91 points (0.32%) to 6,908.03, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index had fallen 135.749 points (0.58%) to 23,457.347.

By sector, technology stocks, especially those related to artificial intelligence (AI), are showing weakness across the board. Nvidia is down 1.32%. Broadcom is down 0.64%, and AMD is down 0.28%. Oracle is also down 0.18%.

This trend has emerged after the S&P 500 index hit an intraday all-time high on December 26 and then closed slightly lower. This year, the major indexes on the New York Stock Exchange posted double-digit gains. The S&P 500 index rose 18% compared to the beginning of the year, while the Dow Jones and Nasdaq indexes jumped by more than 14.5% and 22%, respectively.

Currently, Wall Street is in what is known as the "Santa Claus Rally" period. Typically, the last five trading days of December and the first two trading days of January are considered the Santa Rally period. Since 1950, the S&P 500 index has risen during this period 78% of the time, with an average return of 1.3%.

The main focus of the market this week is the minutes of the December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed), which will be released at 2 p.m. on December 30. Investors are expected to look for clues regarding the FOMC members' economic outlook and the path of next year's benchmark interest rate. Previously, at the regular FOMC meeting on December 10, the Fed lowered the benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points, adjusting it to a range of 3.5% to 3.75% per year.

Whether the AI boom that heated up the stock market this year will continue into next year is also a key point of interest for investors.

Richard Flax, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at Moneyfarm, said, "The question of whether AI is a bubble will remain the most important issue for investors in 2026," adding, "Given the current scale of investment and the pace of innovation, even skeptics will find it hard to ignore the impact on the market and the real economy."

U.S. Treasury yields are slightly weaker. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, the global benchmark for bond yields, is at 4.11%, while the yield on the 2-year note, which is sensitive to monetary policy, is at 3.46%. Both are down 1 basis point (1bp = 0.01 percentage point) from the previous session.

The price of silver, after surpassing $80 per ounce due to increased speculative trading and concerns over supply shortages, is now down approximately 6.43%.