Stock Market Weekend Updates - 12/21/25

Welcome to the weekend stock market updates

This week, I will have a short updates as we approach to the end of the year. My January blog would have enormous information.

The week started on a terrible note specifically for the technology stocks. However, after the economic news and Micron's good earnings the tech stocks bounced back. The AI stocks led again, and suddenly the market is trying very hard to finish the year on a high note. For the first time in weeks, the tape feels constructive instead of fragile. The AI stocks showed some life after a while. For the week the indexes were as follows: S&P 500 +0.11% (to 6,834.50), Nasdaq +0.48% (to 23,307.62), Dow -0.67% (to 48,134.89).

Economic reports last week

  • The November Nonfarm payrolls came at 64,000 vs. 45,000. Please note that there was a a sharp decline of -105,000 jobs in October. The unemployment rate also increased to 4.6%, highest after COVID and its highest level since September 2021. 
  • November consumer prices (CPI - Inflation) was 2.7% vs. expected 3.1%. This was remarkably  better than expected and many folks doubted the numbers!!
Other News
  • Options Market made History: Largest Options Expirations in the stock market history, $7.1 trillion (almost double the size of Indian economy) value of options expired last Friday (December 19, 2025), per Goldman Sachs report. This is incredible how options market has become.
Economic Report this week
  • TUE, 12/23: Q3 GDP Report, Consumer Confidence
  • Wednesday, Dec 24 (Christmas Eve): Early Close at 10am PST
  • Thursday, Dec 25 (Christmas Day): Stock Market Closed
Stocks to watch
NVDA, TSLA, AVGO, HOOD, AMZN, GOOG, PLTR, APLD, CRWV, NBIS,  MSFT, META, DASH, TQQQ, SOXL, CVNA, IONQ, TEM

What to expect?
We all would like to see Santa Clause rally this week and continue to new year. The bounce in tech stock was a good relief sign. I am optimistic that the fund managers and institutional investors would try to add some high quality stocks which have been beaten before the end of the year. Hence, I think the stock market should some rally before the end of this year and possibly in January. Having said that, However, market is not in our control, so we should be mentally ready to take what it comes. 

Next year is expected to be highly volatile - ups and down because of certain events and expected to be a tricky year for investment. More on my next blog for the preview of 2025 and expectations for 2026. If there will be enough participants then I can have an investment meet on January 1, otherwise sometime in future. Stay tuned!

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