Stock Market Live December 17, 2025: S&P 500 (SPY) Set to Rally to Higher Highs

By Ian Cooper Updated Dec 17, 12:03PM EST · Published Dec 17, 9:49AM EST

Quick Read

Hopefully, markets will remain green for the day, especially now that the odds of a January cut have been dashed.
Granted, the labor market is still weak, but the pace of decline may be too slow to force the Federal Reserve to cut rates at its January meeting.
Reportedly, Apple has AI plans for 2026. In fact, the tech giant just promised it would launch the next generation of its AI voice assistant and Siri sometime in the new year.

Live Updates

This is Why Oracle is Down $9 a Share

Dec 17, 2025 at 12:02 PM EST

Oversold shares of Oracle took a dive after Blue Owl Capital said it won’t back a $10 billion data center for OpenAI. While Oracle did say the project is on schedule, it also said Blue Owl was out of funding talks.

As reported by CNBC, “Blue Owl did look into the project, but pulled out due to unfavorable debt terms and the structure of repayments, according to a person familiar with the company’s plans who asked not to be named in order to discuss a confidential matter. Blue Owl is still involved in two other Oracle sites, the person said. The person added that Blue Owl was also concerned that local politics in Michigan would cause construction delays.”

SanDisk is Still Exploding Higher on NAND Demand

Dec 17, 2025 at 9:17 AM EST

Shares of SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK | SNDK Price Prediction) are pushing even higher.

Last trading at $209.31, we’d like to see it retest $280, near term.

According to analysts at Bank of America, the stock could test $300 thanks to growing demand from data centers and artificial intelligence.

Fueling further potential upside, the NAND market could get even tighter thanks to the substantially growing appetite of artificial intelligence data centers that are just starting to consume a massive chunk of global memory and flash production capacity.

At the moment, NAND supply cannot keep up with demand.

After a rough day for the major indices, they’re back in the green.

The S&P 500 is up 16 points in premarket. The SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) is up about $1.25. The Dow is up 121, as the Nasdaq tacks on about 62 points of upside.

Hopefully, markets will remain green for the day, especially now that the odds of a January cut have been dashed. Granted, the labor market is still weak, but the pace of decline may be too slow to force the Federal Reserve to cut rates at its January meeting. Of course, that could all change when we see December jobs numbers and inflation numbers.

For right now, we don’t expect to see a cut in January.

Lithium Prices are Rocketing Higher

Lithium prices are exploding higher after “The Bureau of Natural Resources of Yichun, a major lithium centre in Jiangxi province, said it planned to cancel 27 mining permits after a public consultation period that will end on January 22,” as reported by Mining.com.

That’s generating concerns over future lithium supply, which is why prices are rocketing.

As a result, shares of Albemarle (NYSE: ALB), for example, are up about $5.72 in premarket. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE: SQM) is up by $3.10. Even the Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (LIT) is up about $1.35 in premarket on the news.

Robinhood Could Outperform the S&P 500 Next Year, Too

After exploding from about $40 to a recent high of $119.40, Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) could have another big year, according to analysts at Truist. The firm has a buy rating on the stock with a price target of $155, citing HOOD’s potential growth and profitability. They also believe HOOD is on track for its second straight year of revenue growth of more than 50%.

“The company is one of the top performers in the S&P in terms of both growth and margins,” they added, as quoted by CNBC.

“With Robinhood’s broader financial offerings beyond trading, such as banking and advisory, still in very early stages, and the company only just scratching the surface on international and institutional customers, we see a long runway of outsize growth for HOOD.”

Technically, HOOD is oversold at $119.40 a share. From here, we’d like to see it initially break above its 50-day moving average at around $131.28 a share.

Apple Has Big AI Plans for 2026

Reportedly, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has big AI plans for 2026. In fact, the tech giant just promised it would launch the next generation of its AI voice assistant and Siri sometime in the new year. This was all initially scheduled to happen in 2025, but was delayed early in the year. However, if it can hold up to its 2026 promise, Apple could catch up to its competition.

“They basically said that this year, don’t bother us about AI, and we’ll blow you away by what we show next year,” Deepwater Asset Management’s Gene Munster said, as quoted by CNBC.

Technically, Apple is attractive as it again challenges its 50-day moving average, which has served as strong support since August. Unless Apple breaks through that moving average, it should be able to maintain the uptrend it’s enjoyed since August.