Stocks waver as 2025 winds down while gold and silver rise

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NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks wavered in morning trading on Wall Street Tuesday as 2025 nudges closer to the finish line.

The S&P 500 was mostly unchanged. The benchmark index is still on track for a gain of more than 17% for the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 43 points, or 0.1%, as of 10:02 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite was mostly unchanged.

The biggest weights on the market remained technology companies and other companies focused on advancements for artificial intelligence.

Nvidia fell 0.3%. Facebook parent Meta Platforms rose 1.9%. Both companies have outsized values that have a greater overall impact on the market’s broader direction.

With just two trading days left before the year ends, most big investors have closed out their positions and volume has been thin. U.S. markets will be closed on Thursday for New Year's day.

The more notable action was again in the commodities markets. Gold, silver and copper all resumed their ascent after steep declines a day earlier.

The price of gold gained 1% and silver prices gained 7% after slumping Monday when the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, one of the largest trading floors for commodities, asked traders to put up more cash to make bets on precious metals. Prices for both metals have surged in 2025 on a mix of economic worries and supply deficits.

Copper rose 2.7% and is up more 40% for the year on strong demand. The base metal is critical to global energy infrastructure, and demand is expected to keep growing as the development of artificial intelligence technology puts more of a strain on data centers and the energy grid.

Crude oil prices were relatively steady. The price of U.S. crude oil rose 0.5%. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 0.3%.

Treasury yields rose in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.14% from 4.11% late Monday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which moves more closely with expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do, rose to 3.47% from 3.46% late Monday.

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Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.