The United States stock market wrapped up 2025 with impressive gains, marking the third year in a row of double-digit increases. This rare streak has only happened six times since the 1940s, showing the market’s strength amid ups and downs.
Investors saw solid returns across major indexes, driven by healthy company profits, lower interest rates from the Federal Reserve and excitement around artificial intelligence. The S&P 500, a broad measure of top U.S. companies, climbed 16.39 per cent for the year. It followed strong showings of 23 per cent in 2024 and 24 per cent in 2023, pushing it to new highs.
The Nasdaq Composite led the pack with a 20.36 per cent gain, its third straight year as the top performer thanks to tech stocks riding the AI wave. Additionally, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, focused on large-scale industrial firms, rose 12.97 per cent throughout the year, bouncing back from an early dip below 37,000 points to top 48,000 by year’s end.
These gains didn’t come easy. The market faced sharp drops, including sharp selloffs that briefly erased significant market value following tariff announcements. A long government shutdown and worries about an AI bubble added pressure, but stocks recovered as companies reported strong earnings and the economy held firm.
Tech giants like NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) (ETR: NVD), which saw gains in excess of 38 per cent; Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (LON: 0RIH), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) (FRA: AMZ), Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) (ETR: APC) Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) (FRA: FB2A), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) (FRA: MSF), and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) (ETR: Tl0) powered much of the growth, highlighting how AI enthusiasm boosted investor confidence. Despite ending on a sour note with four down days, 2025 proved resilient. Lower rates helped hiring and spending, while global events like geopolitical tensions tested but didn’t break the upward trend.
“Powering stocks this year was optimism around artificial intelligence and its economic potential,” said New York Stock Exchange Strategic Planning Manager, Kristen Scholer. “Lower borrowing costs and resilient earnings helped too.”
AI optimism and precious metals boom lift ETFs + stocks
Precious metals stocks also shone brightly in 2025, delivering some of the market’s biggest gains and adding fuel to the overall rally. With gold prices soaring about 65 per cent to over US$4,300 an ounce and silver jumping around 145 per cent to near US$75, mining companies reaped huge profits from higher metal values and strong demand. The VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA: GDX), a key tracker of major gold miners, surged roughly 166 per cent, far outpacing the broader market’s double-digit returns.
Silver-focused funds and individual miners posted even sharper rises, often topping 150 per cent. This boom stemmed from global tensions, central bank buying, and industrial needs for silver in tech and green energy. While tech and AI drove much of the stock excitement, precious metals provided a strong hedge against uncertainty, helping diversify portfolios and boost sector performance amid volatility.
Looking back, this year’s performance echoes past booms, like the 1990s, when markets enjoyed even longer winning streaks. For everyday investors, 2025’s story is one of perseverance. It shows how smart policies and innovation can lift markets, even in tough times.
As we head into 2026, the focus will be on sustaining this momentum amid fresh challenges.
$9 trillion was added to the stock market in 2025.
The S&P 500 closed up +16.6%, its 3rd-straight year with double digit gains.
Nasdaq closed up +20.4%. pic.twitter.com/9JVs6Cn1vW
— Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com (@FluentInFinance) January 1, 2026
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