Investopedia Markets News (all except PF)

News of the day for Dec. 23, 2025

Stock futures are little changed Tuesday morning after three consecutive sessions of solid gains for major indexes; gold and silver are sustaining their rally, with prices of the precious metals hitting record highs for the second day in a row; a handful of economic indicators are due today, including reports on economic growth and consumer confidence; Novo Nordisk stock is surging after the FDA approved a pill version of its popular weight loss drug Wegovy; and shipmaker Huntington Ingalls Industries stock is surging following news that the Trump administration wants to build new battleships. Here's what you need to know today.

Stock futures are pointing to a muted open this morning as the market looks to extend a rally that has lifted major indexes back near record highs. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down fractionally in recent trading, after posting gains Monday for the third straight session. The Dow enters Tuesday's session 0.7% away from a new closing high, while the S&P 500 is just 0.3% away from its high. Gold futures hit fresh all-time highs, surging above $4,500 an ounce, while WTI crude oil futures ticked higher to $58.05 per barrel and were trading at a two-week high. Bitcoin was at $87,800 recently, after briefly rising above $90,000 on Monday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of consumer loans, slipped to 4.15% from 4.17% late yesterday.

Precious metals are extending a rally that has sent gold and silver prices to all-time highs. Gold futures were up 1.2% at near $4,520 an ounce recently, while silver futures rose 1.6% to $69.70, with each trading at record levels for the second straight day. Gold and silver have hit a series of record highs this year amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue cutting interest rates. A weakening U.S. dollar and geopolitical uncertainty have also contributed to the gains, as investors have sought out assets that are perceived as safe havens. The price of gold has risen 70% year-to-date, while silver has more than doubled.

A slew of economic data is set to be released Tuesday, with a mix of reports that were delayed by the government shutdown and more-current numbers. The report on third-quarter gross domestic product, originally due in October, is due at at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect the GDP report to show that the economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.2%, down from 3.8% in the second quarter but above the average over the last four years of 2.6%. Also due out Tuesday is the Conference Board's consumer confidence survey for December, which will show how Americans felt about the economy heading into the busy holiday shopping season. Durable goods orders for October, another shutdown-delayed report, and a Federal Reserve report on industrial production in November are also both expected today.

Shares of Novo Nordisk (NVO) are jumping Tuesday after the Danish drugmaker said it has received Food and Drug Administration approval for an oral version of its popular GLP-1 drug Wegovy. Late Monday, the company said the pill version of Wegovy, which caused patients lose about 16.6% of their body weight on average during a clinical trial, will launch in January in the U.S. The weight loss drug industry has seen Novo rival Eli Lilly (LLY) take the lead in sales growth with its Mounjaro and Zepbound, which proved to be more effective in causing weight loss. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have each been racing to get pill versions of the drugs approved, as the companies believe a wider range of people would be open to taking a pill than getting injections. Novo Nordisk's U.S.-listed shares were up 8% in recent premarket trading, while Eli Lilly was down 1%.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) stock is rising ahead of the opening bell after the Trump administration said that it wants to build new battleships. Navy Secretary John Phelan said Friday that the new ship will be based on a previous Huntington Ingalls design, and that the first ships are expected to be completed by 2028. The company said Friday that it has been given the contract to design and manufacture the new ship. President Trump said Monday that the first ship will be called the USS Defiant as part of his effort to revamp the Navy's fleet of ships into a so-called "Golden Fleet," The Wall Street Journal reported. Huntington Ingalls shares were up 4% in premarket trading, following gains of 5% on Monday and 4% on Friday, each day ending at a record high.

• Cintas made another bid for rival uniform and business supplies provider UniFirst, sending its shares soaring Monday.
• The latest offer comes after Cintas said it took steps to address regulatory concerns.

UniFirst (UNF) shares took off Monday after rival Cintas (CTAS) made another bid for the business uniforms and supplies provider.

Shares of UniFirst jumped over 16% to finish near $198 Monday, while Cintas shares climbed about 2% to just under $192.

Cintas said it offered $275 per share in cash for all of UniFirst’s outstanding common and Class B shares, a 62% premium to UniFirst’s closing price on Friday.

Cintas renewed its $275-per-share bid for UniFirst, this time including a large reverse termination fee to address regulatory concerns. The bid offers a steep premium for UniFirst shareholders, and shares of both companies climbed on the news of the revamped proposal.

Cintas made an offer of $275 per share to UniFirst back in January, but was rebuffed amid concerns about regulatory approval. Cintas ended those negotiations in March.

In its latest proposal, the company said it has “undertaken substantial work on the regulatory front and remains confident that there is a clear path to obtaining the regulatory approvals necessary to consummate the proposed transaction.” In addition, Cintas offered a $350 million reverse termination fee to UniFirst if the deal is not approved. 

CEO Todd Schneider said Cintas remains “unwavering in our conviction that combining Cintas and UniFirst would deliver considerable benefits for customers, employee-partners and shareholders.”

Shares of UniFirst had soared following Cintas’ January offer, but lost ground in the months since. They were little changed for the year heading into Monday's session, which left the stock up close to 16% for the year. Cintas shares have climbed 5% in 2025.

Episode 275 of the Investopedia Express podcast with Caleb Silver (Dec. 22, 2025)

Subscribe Now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / PlayerFM

Jim Cramer, the legendary investor, educator, best-selling author, host of CNBC’s Mad Money and Squawk on the Street, joins the Express with lessons for investing in any market, and his unique valuation tools for finding the next great stocks. Plus, we reveal Investopedia’s Terms of the Year, which include everything from insider trading to Bad Bunny’s growing fortune.

• Fed officials are scheduled to meet Jan. 27 and 28 to set the nation's monetary policy, and will consider whether to cut the central bank's key interest rate for a fourth consecutive meeting.
  
• Financial markets expect the Fed to hold interest rates steady at the January meeting.
  
• Fed officials are torn between cutting rates to boost the faltering job market or keeping them high to subdue inflation that's still over the Fed's goal of a 2% annual rate.
  

The Federal Reserve's policy committee is scheduled to meet next on Jan. 27 and 28, and officials are expected to hold the central bank's key interest rate steady after a series of cuts in recent months.

The Federal Open Market Committee will meet to consider whether to cut the federal funds rate from its current range of 3.5% to 3.75%. The Fed cut its interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point at each of the previous three meetings in an effort to prevent the recent job market slowdown from turning into a serious increase in unemployment.

Fed officials have been divided about whether to cut interest rates to help the job market or keep them high to fight inflation. The Fed's dual mandate from Congress requires it to keep inflation low and employment high, and both have been headed in the wrong direction in recent months, creating a dilemma for the Fed. Lower borrowing costs could help encourage hiring, but could risk stoking inflation.

"A very large number of participants agree that risks are to the upside for unemployment and to the upside for inflation," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said after the December meeting of the policy committee. "So what do you do? You've got one tool. You can't do two things at once. So at what pace do you move? It's a very challenging situation."

After three consecutive cuts, financial markets now expect policymakers to hold interest rates steady to see what direction the economy takes, and which problem emerges as the more serious risk. As of Monday, traders were pricing in an 80% chance the Fed would hold steady, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, which forecasts rate movements based on fed funds futures trading data.

The fed funds rate influences borrowing costs on short-term loans such as credit cards and car loans, and indirectly affects rates for mortgages and other longer-term credit. Easier money generally encourages spending and boosts the economy, while higher interest rates reduce demand and push down inflation.

With both inflation and unemployment trending higher recently, the economy increasingly risks entering a state of "stagflation," or stagnant economic growth and a poor job market combined with high inflation. The Fed aims to avoid this outcome by setting the fed funds rate appropriately.

Beth Hammack, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, said the Fed should hold rates steady instead of cutting for at least several months.

"Inflation has been above our target for nearly five years," Hammack said on a Wall Street Journal podcast Sunday. "And I think it's really important for us to try to bring that down ... My base case that we can stay here for some period of time until we get clearer evidence that either inflation is coming back down to target or the employment side is weakening more materially."

Hammack is slated to be a voting member of the Fed's 12-member policy committee in 2026.

Inflation has not run at the Fed's goal of a 2% annual rate since 2021 and has accelerated this year by most measures since President Donald Trump began imposing tariffs last spring in an effort to boost American manufacturing. A report last week showed that inflation slowed down sharply in November, but Hammack said she was skeptical that was really the case, since the data could have been distorted by the government shutdown in October and November.

However, the faltering job market is just as concerning to Fed officials. Many employers have held back on hiring because of uncertainty about tariffs, slowing down the job market this year. On top of that, Trump's crackdown on immigration has held back hiring in some industries. The unemployment rate has risen steadily since June and reached a four-year high in November.

Several Fed officials have advocated for steeper rate cuts, especially Stephen Miran, who was appointed to the Fed by Trump in September.

"If we don't adjust policy down, then I think that we do run risks" of a recession, Miran said Monday on Bloomberg TV.

• Wedbush analysts wrote Monday that Microsoft stock has room to run in 2026 after it has recently pulled back from October's record highs.
• Investors are still "underestimating" how much value Microsoft's Azure cloud computing services could add as the AI industry continues to grow, the analysts said.

Microsoft (MSFT) stock has set a number of records this year, and analysts think that trend can continue well into 2026.

Wedbush analysts led by Dan Ives, who is particularly bullish on the artificial intelligence trade, wrote Monday that Microsoft remains undervalued as the new year approaches. The analysts reiterated their "outperform" rating and $625 price target, upside of nearly 30% from the stock's Monday levels.

The analysts wrote that investors are still "underestimating" how much Microsoft's Azure cloud computing service could grow if the AI industry continues expanding as Wedbush expects. The analysts project that Azure and Microsoft's Copilot AI assistant could add $25 billion in sales to Microsoft's results through fiscal 2026.

Despite a recent pullback in tech stocks, some analysts are still saying that the AI trade should be able to continue providing growth next year as the biggest tech companies keep spending tens of billions on the infrastructure behind AI.

"We believe Microsoft is set to have a massive 2026 and the stock is a compelling buy at these levels," the analysts wrote, as they expect Microsoft to play a "foundational role" in the next stages of AI development.

Wedbush analysts aren't alone, as all but one of the 13 analysts with current ratings tracked by Visible Alpha rate Microsoft a "buy," with the other calling it a "hold." The average price target among those analysts is $635, even higher than Wedbush's target, indicating the expectation that Microsoft stock will rise well above the records it set earlier this year.

The AI trade has had a rocky last several weeks as investors and analysts have raised an increasing number of questions over whether the circular nature of funding in the AI industry is sustainable, and when tech companies could potentially see a return on the billions they have invested in the tech.

Microsoft shares were little changed in late-afternoon trading Monday. They have gained about 15% since the start of the year, but are roughly 10% below their most recent record closing high, set just before the company's last earnings report in October.

• Google parent Alphabet said Monday it's buying energy infrastructure provider Intersect for $4.75 billion.
• CEO Sundar Pichai said the purchase will boost the firm's ability to meet the power needs of AI data centers.

Google parent Alphabet just struck another big energy deal aimed at growing its AI data center footprint.

Alphabet (GOOGL) said Monday it's buying energy infrastructure provider Intersect for $4.75 billion to help support its data center buildout.

CEO Sundar Pichai said the purchase of Intersect, which Google had already owned a stake in through a previous funding round, “will help us expand capacity, operate more nimbly in building new power generation in lockstep with new data center load, and reimagine energy solutions to drive US innovation and leadership.”

Like many of its Big Tech peers, Alphabet has said it plans to spend billions of dollars to raise its AI capacity. Monday's deal underscores how that could involve buying other companies, as well as more partnerships.

Alphabet said its deal with Intersect would also serve its commitment to "unlock abundant, reliable, affordable energy supply that enables the buildout of data center infrastructure without passing on costs to grid customers.”

Alphabet shares were up less than 1% in recent trading. They've added nearly two-thirds of their value in 2025 as revenues surged, thanks in part to gains from AI.

• Stanley Black & Decker said it has reached a deal to sell its Consolidated Aerospace Manufacturing business to Howmet Aerospace for $1.8 billion in cash.
• The company best known for its tools said the move would help reduce debt and help it focus on its biggest brands and businesses.

Shares of Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) jumped Monday after the company announced an agreement to sell its Consolidated Aerospace Manufacturing business to aircraft metal components manufacturer Howmet Aerospace (HWM) for $1.8 billion in cash.

Stanley Black & Decker said it plans to use the net cash proceeds from the transaction, which is expected to close in the first half of next year, to reduce debt. Until the transaction closes, Stanley Black & Decker plans to have the unit continue operating. 

CEO Chris Nelson said the sale of Consolidated Aerospace Manufacturing “reflects our ongoing dedication to enhancing shareholder value and focusing on growing our biggest brands and businesses.” The unit makes fasteners, fittings and engineered components for the aerospace and defense industries.

Howmet said it sees Consolidated Aerospace Manufacturing generating 2026 fiscal year revenue of about $485 million to $495 million, with adjusted EBITDA margin greater than 20% before synergies.

Stanley Black & Decker shares were up 3.5% in mid-afternoon trading, after rising as much as 7% this morning. Even with today's gains, the stock has lost about 6% of its value since the start of the year.

Howmet shares were up 2% this afternoon and have risen more than 90% since the start of 2025.

• Gold and silver are on track for their strongest annual gains since 1979, powered by demand for safe-haven assets amid tariff turmoil, falling interest rates, and major buying by central banks.
• Copper's record run reflects surging demand worldwide from EV, AI infrastructure, and renewable energy construction projects.

Investors continue to buy up metals, driving the prices of gold and silver to new highs.

Gold hit $4,460 per ounce Monday, an all-time high in a year that's already seen it surpass its 1980 inflation-adjusted peak. Silver has more than doubled in price. Copper, the metal wiring data centers and EVs, is approaching $12,000 per ton in its biggest annual surge since 2009.

For investors, the metals rally signals persistent fears over inflation and economic uncertainty, as well as a massive infrastructure buildout that's just getting started. You may already be feeling these price surges, whether through higher jewelry costs, pricier electronics, or rising home renovation bills.

Rate-cut expectations, a weakening dollar, and geopolitical anxiety are fueling these rallies. The dollar is on pace for its steepest annual decline since 2017, making gold cheaper for overseas buyers and spawning enthusiasm for what's known as the "debasement trade," in which investors see metals as a hedge against rising government debt.

Central banks are also building their gold stockpiles, expanding physical holdings to cut their reliance on the dollar and hedge against economic turbulence.

The expectation of rate cuts, meanwhile, generally supports gold, which doesn't pay a dividend and thus can look more attractive by comparison when rates are lower. (Practically speaking, there's disagreement among experts about how many cuts, if any, the Fed might make in 2026.)

Silver has surged 137% this year, its best performance since 1982. That's because of the metal's dual roles as a store of value and for industrial uses: Demand from companies that make solar panels, EVs, and data centers have helped propel silver prices higher.

Copper is up 36.7% this year, approaching $12,000 per ton, its biggest annual gain since 2009. The metal is rising because of the massive need for it in AI data center, EV, and expanding power grid construction.

Grid and power infrastructure are projected to drive more than 60% of copper demand growth through 2030, according to Goldman Sachs. Every new solar farm, wind turbine, and data center project is adding to the demand. Meanwhile, a single electric car uses up to four times more copper than a gas-powered vehicle.

Copper suppliers haven't been able to keep up. Disruptions to mining operations in Chile and Peru have dented production, and the White House slapped a 50% tariff on imported copper products this year, sparking a hoarding rush that J.P. Morgan expects to continue in 2026.

• The latest tweaks to Paramount Skydance's offer for Warner Bros. Discovery address some of the concerns outlined by Warner Bros. last week.
• Stocks of all three companies involved in the battle for Hollywood dominance—the other being Netflix—moved Monday on the latest developments.

Paramount wants Warner Bros. Warner Bros. wants Netflix. A tech billionaire hopes his personal guarantee can tip the scales in the other direction.

Paramount Skydance (PSKY) on Monday tweaked its offer for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), addressing some of the concerns the latter company outlined in a letter to shareholders last week. Warner Bros. rebuffed Paramount CEO David Ellison's attempt to pry the HBO owner away from Netflix (NFLX), which has already agreed to acquire it for upwards of $80 billion.

The latest development is that Paramount says Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle and the world's fifth-richest person, agreed among other things to personally guarantee more than $40 billion of the equity financing for its offer, as well as to not amend a family trust or transfer assets that might otherwise endanger the transaction.

Each development in what looks likely to result in a drawn-out battle for Hollywood dominance is moving shares of the involved parties. Investors are trying to determine whether Netflix's deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery will go through or if Paramount Skydance can pull off its own acquisition attempt.

Warner Bros. did not respond to Investopedia's request for comment in time for publication. Still, the development appears to have struck a chord with some investors: Shares of Paramount are up more than 5% following the announcement, and Warner Bros.' are up roughly 3%. Meanwhile, Netflix (NFLX) is down about 1%.

Gerry Cardinale, CIO of Paramount stakeholder RedBird Capital Partners, which is providing some of the financing for the proposed deal, on Monday told CNBC that "We've come in and said that 'okay, we will give you—Larry will give—a personal guarantee on the equity financing for this transaction."

Paramount investors may be cheering the latest news, but they may also be applauding the general possibility that they could get more money—which, for now, isn't being offered. Paramount has so far maintained its $30 cash-per-share deal. Warner Bros. last week called Paramount's offer "illusory" and said there was "no Ellison family commitment of any kind."

Netflix, meanwhile, in a regulatory filing Monday said it secured $25 billion in financing to support the planned deal.

• Rocket Lab stock surged Monday, extending its recent rally after another successful launch this weekend.
• The launch helped Rocket Lab reach a new company record for the year.
  

Rocket Lab (RKLB) shares surged Monday after another successful launch this weekend, adding to Friday's gains following a U.S. Space Force deal.

The shares were up nearly 9% in recent trading, after jumping close to 18% Friday. (Read our daily markets coverage here.) 

Rocket Lab said Sunday that its Electron rocket took off successfully from a New Zealand spaceport this weekend. “The Wisdom Gods Guide” mission involved deploying satellites for Japan-based Earth imaging firm Q-shu Pioneers of Space, or iQPS.

The launch helped Rocket Lab reach a record 21 Electron rocket launches over the past year, with a 100% success rate, the company said.

The recent surge in Rocket Lab’s stock could point to growing confidence in its track record after a series of successful launches and a new Space Force contract.

On Friday, Rocket Lab announced a contract for up to $816 million to build a missile-defense satellite constellation for the U.S. Space Force. The agreement—marking the largest contract in the company’s history—will have Rocket Lab design and manufacture 18 satellites, Rocket Lab said.

With their recent gains, Rocket Lab shares have roughly tripled in value in 2025.