Overnight US stocks | In 2025, global stock markets and precious metals performed well, with gold seeing its largest annual increase since 1979. However, oil and cryptocurrencies performed poorly, and Warren Buffet officially retired.

On Wednesday, the three major indexes all closed lower, with the S&P 500 recording its fourth consecutive trading day of decline. In the U.S. stock market in 2025, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.63%, marking its eighth consecutive month of gains with a 12.97% increase for the year; the S&P 500 Index fell by 0.74% with a 16.39% increase for the year; and the Nasdaq fell by 0.76%, with a 20.36% increase for the year, all three major stock indexes hitting new highs for the third consecutive year. [US Stocks] At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 303.77 points, or 0.63%, to 48,063.29 points; the Nasdaq dropped by 177.09 points, or 0.76%, to 23,241.99 points; and the S&P 500 Index dropped by 50.74 points, or 0.74%, to 6,845.50 points. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A.US, BRK.B.US) fell slightly as renowned investor Warren Buffett officially retired and stepped down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US) dropped by over 1%, NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) dropped by 0.55%, and Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) dropped by 2.47%. [Asia-Pacific Stock Markets] The Nikkei 225 Index saw a 26% increase for the year, closing above the 50,000 point mark; the KOSPI Index in South Korea saw a 75.6% increase for the year, the largest annual gain since 1999; and the Taiwan Weighted Index saw a 24% increase for the year, closing at 28,963.6 points, briefly reaching above 29,000 points during the year. [Foreign Exchange] In 2025, the Euro rose by 13%, becoming the top foreign exchange winner of the year; the British Pound rose by 7%; and the US Dollar Index (DXY) fell by 9%. [Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin saw a decrease of about 6% for the year, briefly surpassing its all-time high of $120,000 during the year; Ethereum saw a decrease of about 10% for the year. [Precious Metals] Buoyed by factors such as rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, political tensions at GEO Group Inc, strong buying interest from central banks, and inflows into ETFs, precious metals had an outstanding performance in 2025. The price of gold saw a significant increase of about 64%, marking the largest annual gain since 1979. Silver saw a 147% increase for the year, the best annual performance in history. Platinum saw an increase of over 128% for the year, also the strongest annual performance on record. Palladium saw an increase of over 77% for the year. [Metals] On Wednesday, copper futures on the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed down $136 to $12,423 per ton, with a cumulative increase of nearly 42% in 2025, marking the largest annual gain in 16 years. Analysts predict that the premium of CME to LME will continue to attract copper flow into U.S. stocks until the U.S. decides on copper tariffs in mid-2026, tightening supply in the traditional consumption centers. Daniel Smith, Managing Director of Commodity Market Analytics, said: "I don't expect a reversal soon, these flows are driven mostly by arbitrage, and are still constrained by U.S. policy, which is hard to predict." Smith said that in terms of consumption, seasonal factors will provide short-term support for copper, with the first quarter often supporting the industrial cycle and stocking up inventories before the summer arrives. [Crude Oil] WTI February crude oil futures closed down $0.53 or 0.91% to $57.42 per barrel, with a cumulative decrease of nearly 20% in 2025. Brent February crude oil futures closed down $0.48 or 0.78% to $60.85 per barrel, with a cumulative decrease of over 18% in 2025, marking the largest annual decline since 2020, the third consecutive year of decline, setting a record for the longest continuous decline in history. [Macro News] Weekly initial jobless claims in the U.S. fell to a one-month low. Initial jobless claims in the U.S. fell unexpectedly to the lowest level in a month last week, but with hiring muted, the unemployment rate in December may still remain high. In recent weeks, initial jobless claims have fluctuated significantly, as seasonal adjustments to data face challenges before the holiday season. The labor market is expected to remain in what economists and policymakers call a "no hire, no fire" mode. Despite the recent resilience of the U.S. economy, with GDP growth in the third quarter reaching its fastest pace in two years, the labor market is almost stagnant. Economists say that labor demand and supply are impacted by import tariffs and crackdown on immigration. JPMorgan: U.S. labor market expected to slow down then improve in 2026. JPMorgan said that the U.S. labor market is showing signs of cooling after a turbulent year in the economy and financial markets, with the expectation of a slower start and gradual improvement in the second half of 2026. A forecasting report released earlier this month by the bank attributed the weakening employment growth momentum in 2025 to business uncertainty caused by tariffs and trade policies. Michael Feroli, the bank's economist, said: "As a result, companies still face difficulties in both long-term and short-term planning, with layoffs and new hirings remaining low. When companies lack certainty about the next six months, they tend to be cautious about large-scale staffing changes." In addition, the Trump administration's immigration control and deportation actions have exceeded expectations. The decrease in labor supply, along with a relatively stable labor participation rate, means that the monthly addition of new jobs needed to maintain a stable unemployment rate may drop sharply from 50,000 to just 15,000. Although the pace of job growth is slowing down, the unemployment rate is expected to gradually rise. Moody's Corporation analysis: The Federal Reserve may actively cut interest rates three times in the first half of 2026. Mark Zandi, Chief Economist at Moody's Corporation analysis, believes that a weak labor market, inflation uncertainty, and political pressure will prompt the Federal Reserve to actively cut interest rates in the early part of 2026. While both the market and Federal Reserve officials expect only moderate easing next year, Zandi predicts that the Federal Reserve will implement three interest rate cuts in the first half of next year, each by 25 basis points. "Behind the further loosening of monetary policy is a still weak job market, especially in early 2026. Companies need more time to be confident that changing trade and immigration policies and other threats will not catch them off guard, and only then will they resume hiring." He added: "Until then, job growth will not be enough to prevent further increase in the unemployment rate. As long as the unemployment rate continues to rise, the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates." Zandi's forecast is more aggressive than both the market and the Federal Reserve's expectations, both of which point to a slower pace of rate cuts. The world's richest people have seen their wealth increase by a record $2.2 trillion this year. According to reports, the wealth of the top 500 richest people globally has increased by a record $2.2 trillion this year, with all markets from stocks to cryptocurrencies to precious metals booming, driving up the value of their assets and bringing their total net worth to $11.9 trillion. Among them, tech giants lead the way, with the fervor for artificial intelligence continuing to boost large-cap stocks in the United States. About one-fourth of all the wealth growth recorded by the Institutional Wealth Index comes from eight individuals, including Larry Ellison, Chairman of Oracle Corporation (ORCL.N); Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.O); Larry Page, Co-Founder of Alphabet (GOOG.O); and Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN.O). However, it is worth noting that this contribution is smaller than last year, when these eight billionaires accounted for 43% of the total gains. [Individual Stock News] Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT.US): Will issue digital tokens based on the Cronos blockchain to stockholders. The Trump Media & Technology Group announced that it will soon issue a new digital token to DJT stockholders. Each share of DJT will receive one token, granting access to benefits or discounts related to platforms such as Truth Social and Truth+. The tokens will be issued based on the Cronos blockchain, in partnership with Crypto.com. These tokens may not be transferable or exchanged for cash, and do not confer ownership rights in the company.