Sawt Falasteen - Stocks higher, silver rebounds as 2025 trading winds down

Wall Street's main indices were barely changed in early afternoon trading as worries over valuations of artificial intelligence stocks lingered in the final days of 2025.

"It's perfectly normal for the market to pause, consolidate, go down a little bit, so on," said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments.

"Right now, the market is consolidating a very strong rally from April's low until October," he added.

The blue-chip Dow was still heading nevertheless for a gain of more than 13 percent in 2025, while the broader S&P 500 was on track for an increase of more than 17 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was up more than 21 percent.

The Fed's monetary easing in the second half of this year has been a key driver of the markets' rally, compounding a surge in the tech sector on the back of the vast amounts of cash pumped into all things AI.

It also helped offset recent worries about a possible tech bubble and warnings that traders might not see a return on their investments in artificial intelligence for some time.

Investors were awaiting minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting to scour for clues on the outlook for US interest rates next year.

"Perhaps one of the biggest threats to stock indices for 2026 is an end to interest rate cuts, or even rate hikes in the major economies," Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB, noted Tuesday.

Investors, including central banks, have been piling into dollar-denominated silver and gold on expectations of more cuts to US interest rates next year.

Gold, in particular, has rocketed to record highs this year thanks to its status as a safe-haven investment amid geopolitical unrest.

The price of silver jumped more than three percent to $74.47 an ounce Tuesday, having reached a record-high $84 on Monday before tumbling as investors booked profits.

Silver, a key industrial metal as well as being used for jewellery, has won additional support from tight supply concerns.

Europe's main stock markets ended the day with gains.

Frankfurt, which is closed on Wednesday, ended the year with a gain of 23 percent.

The CAC 40 index in Paris was heading for an annual gain of more than 10 percent and London's FTSE 100 of over 21 percent.

Asian markets have enjoyed a healthy year, with Seoul's Kospi piling on more than 75 percent and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 more than 26 percent -- both having hit records earlier in the year.

But the two edged down Tuesday, with Sydney, Mumbai and Taipei also lower. Hong Kong, Singapore, Wellington, Bangkok and Jakarta rose. Shanghai was flat.

In company news, shares in Facebook owner Meta rose 1.1 percent after it announced it had agreed to buy Manus, an artificial intelligence agent created by a company founded in China but now based in Singapore.

- Key figures at around 1630 GMT -

New York - Dow: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 48,418.63 points

New York - S&P 500: UP less than 0.1 percent at 6,910.34

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 23,503.47

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.8 percent at 9,940.71 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 8,168.15 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.6 percent at 24,490.41 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 50,339.48 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.9 percent at 25,854.60 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: FLAT at 3,965.12 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1762 from $1.1766 on Monday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3472 from $1.3504

Dollar/yen: UP at 156.27 yen from 156.06 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 87.31 pence from 87.00 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.2 percent at $61.61 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $58.27 per barrel

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S.Abdullah--SF-PST