Stocks

China's Guangzhou Futures Exchange will from December 29 restrict non-futures firms to opening 300 lots per day in designated platinum and palladium contracts and raise the minimum opening size to two lots. The move comes after platinum surged to $2,377.50 and palladium jumped more than 85% this year, while Shanghai silver spiked to $80 per ounce and China's main silver fund hit its 10% daily limit down.

In the U.S. economy, large-cap firms such as Amazon and Nvidia are reporting billions in profits and fresh stock highs, while many small businesses are cutting staff and hours. Recent data show companies with fewer than 50 workers have shed 120,000 jobs in November, even as S&P 500 companies recorded a 12.9% rise in net income in the third quarter of 2025. Owners across retail, restaurants, and promotional goods say tariffs, inflation, and weaker demand are squeezing margins and forcing painful staffing decisions.

Following the April 2024 halving, miners faced the most severe margin squeeze in 2025 and accelerated shifts into AI, HPC and consolidation to stabilize revenue. With the subsidy fixed at 3.125 BTC and the cycle extending into 2026, profitability increasingly hinges on energy costs, fee income and financing choices.

BlackRock expects only measured Federal Reserve rate reductions in 2026 as policy moves toward neutral. The December 2025 dot plot shows a median path from about 3.6 percent in 2025 to roughly 3.4 percent in 2026, implying one to two 25 bp cuts. The firm's baseline centers on 25–50 bp of easing, conditional on incoming data.

On Thursday, China's yuan moved through the ¥7-per-dollar mark for the first time since September 2024, with offshore trading at 6.9964 and the onshore rate closing at 7.0067. The currency has risen more than 3.8% this year alongside a stronger central bank fixing, while developer China Vanke faces renewed pressure as holders of a 3.7 billion yuan bond vote on repayment delay options. Analysts say the yuan remains weak relative to fundamentals, and Vanke continues to manage about $50 billion in interest-bearing debt as it negotiates with creditors.

On December 25, 2025, Strategy (MSTR) CEO Phong Le said he remains optimistic for 2026 even after Bitcoin fell below $87,000. The firm, a major corporate holder of BTC, saw its shares drop 8.5% as the market slid, while BTC traded around $87,039, down 1% over 24 hours.

In 2025, the cryptocurrency sector recorded 267 deals worth about $8.6 billion, marking sharp growth from the prior year. Major transactions included Coinbase's $2.9 billion Deribit acquisition and $14.6 billion raised through 11 crypto-related IPOs. Analysts expect continued momentum in mergers, acquisitions, and stablecoin firms in 2026, supported by new crypto-friendly rules.

U.S. stock benchmarks ended a shortened Christmas Eve session at record closing levels as major indexes extended strong 2025 gains. Gold hovered just below a new all-time high and remains up sharply for the year, while Treasury yields and the U.S. dollar both drifted lower alongside weakening labor indicators and softer oil prices.

Kraken Head of Consumer Mark Greenberg told CNBC on Wednesday that blockchain-based tokenization is pushing the concept of money beyond fiat, allowing people to save, trade, and spend in a wide range of tokenized assets. He noted that Kraken's tokenized stock product has drawn more than 80,000 wallets and around $14 billion in volume since launching in the second quarter of this year, while on-chain real-world assets have reached nearly $415 billion.

In 2025, America's six largest banks added $600 billion in market value as post-crisis regulations were rolled back and investment banking revived. Their combined market capitalization climbed to $2.37 trillion, while looser leverage limits and stress tests freed up excess capital for buybacks, dividends, and growth.