Stock futures pointed to a quiet open on Monday after the S&P 500 touched a fresh intraday record last Friday, capping a year of robust gains across major US indexes. With traders eyeing the final sessions of 2025, the benchmark’s path highlights sustained market optimism despite elevated valuations and holiday-thin volumes.
S&P 500 futures edged marginally higher Sunday night, mirroring slight upticks in Dow futures while Nasdaq-100 futures hovered near flat, consistent with holiday positioning. Such subdued action is common near year-end, as reduced liquidity amplifies caution among institutions finalizing portfolios.
S&P 500’s record milestone
The S&P 500 reached an intraday high of 6,945.77 on Friday before settling just below unchanged, extending its streak of record peaks through late December. Year-to-date, the index has climbed 17.7%.
This performance builds on multiyear momentum, positioning the S&P 500 nearly 80% above levels from three years prior amid resilient earnings and tech-led advances.
Dow and Nasdaq year-end strength
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has advanced 14.5% in 2025, on pace for its strongest annual gain since 2021, with recent futures around 45,000 levels underscoring blue-chip resilience. Nasdaq Composite returns stand at 22.2% year-to-date, outpacing broader indexes through dominance in technology and growth sectors. These differentiated gains highlight how AI enthusiasm and economic durability have fueled uneven but powerful equity breadth.
Santa Claus rally
Markets now sit within the Santa Claus rally window– the last five trading days of December plus the first two of January, where the S&P 500 has averaged over 1% gains since 1950 per Stock Trader’s Almanac data. A strong showing here often correlates with positive January momentum, but failures have preceded early-year pullbacks.