** Wall Street has closed the books on 2025, a year marked by large market swings, a tariff tantrum, both AI excitement and anxiety, more rate cuts, and spectacular gains in precious metals

** S&P 500 index .SPX finished the month of Dec with a fractional loss, the fourth quarter with a 2.4% rise, and the year with a 16.4% jump

** This after rallying about 5% into its then Feb record intraday high, collapsing more than 21% into its Apr intraday low, and then surging nearly 44% into its Dec 26 record intraday high

** Dow .DJI up eight straight months, longest monthly winning streak since a 10-month stretch of gains that ended in Jan 2018

** Additionally, it was a solid year for S&P 500 record closing highs. The benchmark index scored 39 record closes in 2025, Nasdaq notched 36, while the Dow posted 19

** S&P 500 now up three years in a row; 78.3% rise over 2023-2025 period, biggest rolling three-year gain since 90.1% advance in 2018-2020

** Dow Industrials .DJI rose 13% in 2025, while the Nasdaq .IXIC advanced around 20%. The S&P 400 mid-cap index .IDX gained ~6%, and the small-cap Russell 2000 .RUT advanced ~11.3%

** For 2025, nearly all SPX sectors rose: Communication Services and Tech led the way higher, while Real Estate .SPLRCR was the sole loser, giving up just 0.3%

** Communication Services .SPLRCL up 32.4%. Alphabet GOOGL.O powered higher by about 65%, is top Magnificent Seven MAGS.K stock for the year on AI boom boost

** Tech .SPLRCT up 23.3%. Chip stocks .SOX advanced ~42% for the year as AI rally persists despite bubble fears. Micron Technology MU.O led chip group with a 239% advance

Nvidia NVDA.O hit $5 trillion market value in late Oct after deal with U.S. government

Though Oracle ORCL.N shares had worst quarter since 2001 as AI spending spooks

** Industrials .SPLRCI rallied 17.7%. Comfort Systems FIX.N led sector with 120% advance amid enthusiasm over data-center cooling needs.

Boeing BA.N ends higher in 2025 as it emerges from crises

U.S. transport stocks .DJT recorded mixed 2025 as railroads outperform trucking

** Financials .SPSY up 13.3%. A 'new era' ahead? Top U.S. banks rode a blockbuster year into 2026. S&P 500 Banks Index up 30.4%, while the KBW Regional Banking index .KRX lagged, with only a ~3.3% rise.

Berkshire Hathaway BRKb up 11% on the year, up for a 10th straight year, though Warren Buffett stepped down as CEO at year end. BRKb off >6% since Buffett announced his departure in May

** Utilities .SPLRCU rise 12.7%. Group surged in 2025 driven by higher power demand, AI boom

** Healthcare .SPXHC higher by 12.5%. Hospital operators showed strength in 2025

Biotech comes to life with strong H2 run. Nasdaq Biotech Index .NBI rallied around 32% for the year, its biggest yearly gain since 2014

** Materials .SPLRCM up 8.4%. Gold XAU= advanced ~64% to record highs, posted its biggest yearly gain since 1979, while silver XAG= surges 147%, also hits record highs, and scored its biggest yearly rise ever using LSEG data back to 1983. Indeed, plunging gold/silver ratio has precious metals miners going parabolic

Gold/Silver stock index .XAU up about 150% in 2025 for its biggest yearly jump ever

Copper miners soared in 2025 as the red metal rallies

** Consumer Discretionary .SPLRCD up 5.3%. U.S. auto stocks gain in 2025 while reducing EV production targets

U.S. home improvement chains fell in 2025 on stalled housing market, tariff costs

** Energy .SPNY up 5%. Oil producers mixed in 2025 as Brent heads for longest stretch of annual losses.

U.S. refiners outperform S&P 500 energy sector as margins rebound

** Consumer Staples .SPLRCS up 1.3%. Weak consumer spending hammers P&G PG.N, other packaged goods stocks. Though Walmart WMT.O and dollar stores attract budget shoppers; Target TGT.N continues to face heat in 2025

** In terms of individual SPX stocks for the full year, Western Digital WDC.O, Micron and Seagate STX.O were top performers surging 282%, 239% and 219%

Though Sandisk , which joined SPX in late Nov after being spun out of WDC, up nearly 600% since its first close in mid Feb

On the flip side, Alexandria ARE.N, Fiserv FISV.O and The Trade Desk TTD.O were the biggest losers, down 50%, 67% and 68%

** In a photo-finish, Growth SPYG.P edged out Momentum MTUM.Z to claim the top spot on the investing style factors tote board for 2025

** U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield US10YT=RR ends four-year stretch of gains, falls to 4.16% area from 4.577% year-end 2024

** U.S. Dollar index =USD retreated 9.4% for the year, its biggest yearly decline since 9.8% loss in 2017

** Bitcoin BTC= hits record highs, but then reverses after largest crypto liquidation in history, now down more than 6% on the year

** The IPO market staged a strong comeback, capped by medical supplies behemoth Medline's MDLN.O $6-bln-plus offering, the largest since 2021, along with design software firm Figma FIG.N, which notched a 250% debut-day gain (the biggest such pop for a bln-dollar IPO ever, according to Renaissance Capital), and highly-anticipated names including fintech Klarna KLAR.N and StubHub STUB.N

** SPX performance for 2025:

(Lance Tupper and Terence Gabriel are Reuters market analysts. The views expressed are their own)

((lance.tupper@tr.com ; terence.gabriel@tr.com))