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U.S. Stock Market Daily Report — Dec 29, 2025

The U.S. equity market finished a subdued holiday-period session with mixed internals and a cautious tone among investors. Trading saw modest index moves, continued focus on AI-related technology names, and market participants parsing recent Fed easing and incoming economic data.

Key indexes: the S&P 500 closed at 6,929.94, down 2.11 points (about -0.03%); the Nasdaq-100 finished at 23,593.10, off 20.21 points (about -0.09%); and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 48,710.97, down 20.19 points (about -0.04%). Volume and intraday swings were muted, consistent with a quiet holiday session and headlines that drove selective stock moves rather than broad-market trends.

Sector action was mixed. Materials led the day with the XLB ETF closing at 46.11 (+0.59%), while Consumer Discretionary lagged with XLY at 122.05 (down 0.44%). Technology (XLK) and Healthcare (XLV) showed modest gains—XLK at 146.53 (+0.16%) and XLV at 156.05 (+0.16%)—reflecting continued interest in AI-related names. Energy (XLE) underperformed, closing at 44.20 (down 0.38%).

Sector rotation was modest: flows favored defensive/basic-materials exposure and selective tech (driven by AI-theme names), while cyclical consumer discretionary and some energy names lagged. Market participants cited holiday-thinned liquidity and stock-specific news as primary drivers of sector dispersion rather than a broad reallocation across risk-on/risk-off themes.

• NVIDIA (NVDA): $190.53, up $1.92 (+1.02%), volume 139,740,292, market cap 46308.3165.
• Tesla (TSLA): $475.19, down $10.21 (−2.10%), volume 58,780,659; weighed by headlines of an NHTSA probe into door safety.
• Apple (AAPL): $273.40, down $0.41 (−0.15%), volume 21,521,802, market cap 40398.5491.
• Microsoft (MSFT): $487.71, down $0.31 (−0.06%), volume 8,842,175, market cap 36248.44906.
• Amazon (AMZN): $232.52, +0.06%, volume 15,994,726, market cap 24856.89027.
• Alphabet (GOOGL): $313.51, down 0.18%, volume 10,899,017, market cap 37831.2517.
• Meta (META): $663.29, down 0.64%, volume 7,133,813, market cap 16718.4075.

Upcoming earnings called out in recent coverage include: Apple (~Jan 29, 2026), Microsoft and Meta (~Jan 27, 2026), Alphabet (~Feb 2, 2026), Amazon (~Feb 5, 2026), and Tesla (early February estimate). Earnings season and forward guidance are expected to be focal points into January and February.

Macro and policy notes: the Federal Reserve cut its policy stance in mid-December (reported target around 3.75%) with coverage noting three dissenting votes. Short-term market measures of the effective federal funds rate were referenced around 3.64% on recent Fed-day notes, while FRED showed an observation near 3.88% for November. U.S. CPI in the provided datasets was around 2.7% YoY (November 2025), signaling continued moderation in inflation. No material new GDP releases or fresh national payroll/unemployment surprises appeared in today’s top headlines from the supplied results.

Policy and geopolitical items affecting markets included continuing trade-policy developments relevant for multinationals and supply chains, an EU antitrust action in Italy affecting Meta’s WhatsApp terms, and U.S. safety/regulatory scrutiny such as the NHTSA probe cited for Tesla. The Fed’s recent easing and accompanying commentary, including internal dissents, continued to shape expectations for further easing and rates-sensitive positioning.

Overall, markets traded quietly with selective stock and sector moves driven by company-specific news and ongoing assessment of monetary policy and inflation trends. With multiple large-cap earnings dates approaching and the Fed’s recent easing still digesting through markets, investors appear to be awaiting clearer macro and corporate signals before making broader directional bets.