20/12/2025
Stock Market News Dec. 19, 2025: Nasdaq Rallies; Global Bond Yields Rise
Nike stock skids after sportswear maker forecasts sales decline
Last Updated:
Dec. 19, 2025 at 8:08 PM ET
Stocks rallied to close the week near fresh records as technology shares continued their rebound from a volatile period.
U.S. indexes rose Friday with the Nasdaq composite leading the way. The benchmark has been particularly choppy in recent days—it has moved at least 1% in each of the last three sessions, the longest streak of such moves since April's tariff turmoil.
On Friday, Nasdaq rose 1.3%, aided by sharp increases in Nvidia, Palantir and Broadcom. The S&P 500, which rose 0.9%, is now about 1% from its record earlier this month.
Friday's gains followed a jump in stocks Thursday inspired by an encouraging inflation readout. Economists said the report was likely distorted though, a view echoed by New York Fed President John Williams.
A cloudy economic picture—along with artificial-intelligence jitters that have weighed on tech shares this week—have some investors pinning hopes of fresh records on an end-of-year Santa Claus rally. The Dow industrials, which rose 0.4% Friday, are also about 1% from their all-time high.
Global bond yields rose after the Bank of Japan hiked interest rates to the highest in 30 years. The BOJ raised its rate target to 0.75%, another step back from the world’s longest, biggest experiment with ultra-expansionary monetary policy.
Japan's 10-year bond yield settled above 2% for the first time since 1999, while the U.S. 10-year yield hit 4.15%, up from 4.117% Thursday. The yen weakened; some in the market had expected more hawkish guidance about the interest-rate outlook.
Nike's stock skidded 11% after the sportswear maker said it expects sales to decline. Oracle rallied 6.6% after TikTok parent ByteDance formalized agreements with the software maker and other investors to form a new U.S. joint venture. Other AI-related stocks, including Nvidia and Palantir, rose about 4%.
New data showed home sales rose in November for a third straight month, with lower mortgage rates boosting the sluggish housing market.
In precious metals, the most-active gold futures contract rose to $4,387.30 a troy ounce, its 51st record high of the year. Silver rose 3.5% on the day to hit is own record. The front-month contract closed the week at $66.845.
🔎Check out our full market roundup of the week in trading, or listen to the WSJ Minute Briefing podcast.
—By Joe Wallace and Hannah Erin Lang
