Metals Rebound as Tech Softens Before Fed Minutes

December 30, 2025 at 19:29 UTC

4 min read

Metals price surge and mining shares rally as tech stocks dip before Fed minutes

Key Points

Global stocks are mixed as investors await Fed December meeting minutes, a key year-end catalyst.
Gold and silver prices are rebounding sharply after a steep profit-taking sell-off from record highs.
Mining shares in London, Toronto and New York are leading gains, while large tech stocks lag.
The recent tech-led pullback has interrupted the Santa Claus rally but indexes remain up strongly in 2025.

Wall Street Wavers After Tech-Led Pullback

US equities were little changed on Tuesday as Wall Street tried to stabilize following a technology-led slide at the start of the final trading stretch of 2025. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slipped about 0.1% after modest declines on Monday, when Nvidia and Tesla led megacap stocks lower amid what several reports described as year-end profit-taking and a small rotation out of tech. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down around 0.2% in early trading and off 0.5% on Monday. Futures tied to the major US indexes hovered near the flatline overnight, with traders reassessing positions after a strong year that has left the Nasdaq up about 21% year to date and the S&P 500 on track for double-digit gains. Analysts noted that internal momentum and the performance of large technology names may be critical if stocks are to close out another year of double-digit returns.

Fed Minutes in Focus as Rate Path Debated

Across the reports, investors were focused on the Federal Reserve’s December meeting minutes, due at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday and seen as one of the last potential market-moving events of 2025. The Fed cut interest rates for a third straight meeting earlier this month, but signaled it may pause further reductions, with officials’ median projections pointing to only one more cut in 2026. Individual forecasts were split, with some policymakers worried about a soft labor market and others about persistent inflation. Market tools cited in several articles showed roughly 84% odds that the Fed will leave rates unchanged at its January meeting, while expectations for March are more divided. US rate futures currently price at least two cuts in 2026, with the first move not expected before the second quarter. The 10-year Treasury yield was quoted around 4.11%-4.14%, broadly steady compared with Monday.

Precious Metals Snap Back After Sharp Sell-Off

Precious metals were a major driver of sector moves on Tuesday. Gold and silver prices rebounded after a steep sell-off on Monday that followed record highs late last week. One report noted spot gold had dropped about 4.5% on Monday after touching a record $4,549.71 an ounce on Friday, while silver plunged nearly 13.5% from its highs. By Tuesday morning, gold futures were up roughly 0.8%-1.7% and spot prices had recovered part of the prior session’s losses, with analysts attributing the earlier drop largely to year-end profit-taking in thin holiday trading. Silver futures rose more than 7% after what was described as the metal’s biggest one-day decline in over five years. Commentators highlighted that gold has gained about 66% in 2025, supported by expectations of further policy easing, geopolitical tensions and central bank buying, and some analysts cited higher price targets for both gold and silver into 2026.

Mining Shares Lead Gains in London, Toronto and New York

The rebound in bullion fed directly into equity markets, where mining stocks outperformed. In London, the FTSE 100 closed up 0.8% at 9,940.71, helped by gains in mining names, while the broader European STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 also edged higher, with mining and bank stocks among the leaders. In Canada, the S&P/TSX Composite rose about 0.26% in morning trade, with the materials sector rebounding after a 2.88% drop the previous session. Major Canadian miners such as Agnico Eagle, Kinross Gold and Barrick advanced between roughly 0.6% and 1.9% as gold and silver prices stabilized. Allied Gold shares in New York climbed about 3.1% in morning trading, tracking the broader recovery in precious-metals-linked names, while larger peers like Newmont also firmed after leading declines on Monday when gold miners slumped. Several reports noted that the TSX remains on track for its best annual performance since 2009, driven largely by a historic 2025 rally in metals.

Santa Rally Pauses but 2025 Gains Remain Intact

The recent weakness in technology and the volatility in metals have interrupted the so-called Santa Claus rally, the tendency for stocks to rise over the final five sessions of the year and the first two of the new year. The S&P 500 was slightly lower over the first three days of this seasonal window, and some commentators said the pullback in large tech stocks, including Oracle and Tesla, has taken major indexes off recent all-time highs. Even so, multiple accounts emphasized that 2025 remains a strong year for global equities. The FTSE 100 is up more than 20% year to date, the FTSE 250 has gained about 8.6%, and the pan-European STOXX 50 is set to end the year up roughly 18%. In the United States, the Nasdaq is ahead about 21% and the major indexes are on course for a third consecutive year of double-digit returns. With a light economic calendar and thin holiday liquidity, traders are watching whether the Fed minutes can shift sentiment and determine how markets finish the year.

Key Takeaways

Market action is being driven less by new data and more by positioning around the Fed’s rate path and thin year-end liquidity.
The sharp but brief sell-off in gold and silver underscores how extended 2025’s metals rally has become and how quickly profit-taking can hit.
Mining equities are acting as a key transmission channel from commodity volatility into stock indexes, offsetting some of the drag from big tech.
Despite a pause in the Santa Claus rally, global benchmarks are closing 2025 with broad double-digit gains, leaving investors focused on how policy and sector leadership evolve in early 2026.