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Stock Market Live December 31: Decent Jobs Numbers Help S&P 500 (VOO) Gain on New Year’s Eve

By Joel South Updated Dec 31, 10:59AM EST · Published Dec 31, 9:29AM EST

Quick Read

The Labor Department reports falling numbers of job seekers seeking unemployment benefits.
Silver and gold prices fall for the second time in this holiday-shortened week.

Live Updates

Serving Up Some Profits

Dec 31, 2025 at 10:59 AM EST

Freedom Capital Markets analyst Dmitriy Pozdnyakov served up a new stock idea this morning — food delivery robot-maker Serve Robotics (Nasdaq: SERV), which it says is a buy that he predicts will hit $16 sometime over the next 12 months.

“Serve is a pioneer in autonomous sidewalk delivery for last-mile logistics,” explains Pozdnyakov, “and is rapidly scaling its fleet of electric delivery robots across major U.S. cities. With improving utilization rates and first-mover advantages in a large, underpenetrated segment, we see SERV positioned for strong growth and eventual profitability.”

Investors seem to like the idea, and Serve stock is up 4% today. They certainly like SERV more than they do the Voo — which is now down 0.4%.

Plug Stock Upgraded

Dec 31, 2025 at 9:51 AM EST

Clear Street analyst Tim Moore delivered a New Year’s Eve surprise to investors this morning, upgrading shares of popular momentum stock Plug Power (Nasdaq: PLUG), a manufacturer of hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen fuel, to buy with a $3 price target.

“We find the upside more compelling today than when the stock reached $4.00 in early October,” says Moore, pointing out the obvious. Moore noted, though, that he needs to cut its price target to $3 from $3.50 previously due to the company’s share dilution from a convertible stock issuance in late November. More shares outstanding means that any profit Plug earns in the future will be spread out across this greater number of shares.

Nevertheless, the analyst is betting that a “lower annual cash burn rate, and improving win opportunities for European refineries electrolyzers,” will boost Plug’s stock in the New Year.

Investors are betting he’s right about that, and Plug stock is up 4.1%.

Nike Laces Up

Dec 31, 2025 at 9:34 AM EST

Premarket gains evaporated as the Voo began trading Wednesday, and the ETF is currently flat. Athletic-wear giant Nike (NYSE: NKE | NKE Price Prediction), an S&P 500 component company, is doing its best to turn the index back around however.

Nike stock has lost nearly 20% this year, but opened 1.6% higher Wednesday on news that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook, who sits on Nike’s board, has just bought 50,000 shares of the shoemaker, nearly doubling his personal stake in the stock.

Investors are taking this as a vote of confidence that Nike can turn things around in 2026.

This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates.

2025 is all but over, and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) seems to want to end its winning year on a high note. Premarket today, the ETF is up 0.1%. If this tiny gain can hold just a few more hours, the Voo will close out 2025 with a 17% gain for the year.

Among other asset classes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up nearly 14% year to date, the Nasdaq is up more than 21%, gold prices have gained 66%, and silver — 166%!

Helping to sustain the momentum today is a strong jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor. Initial jobless claims for the week ending December 27 were 199,000, fewer than the 220,000 expected and 16,000 fewer than the prior week’s report.

Silver and gold

Speaking of which… precious metals investors have been put on something of a rollercoaster this week. Silver prices hit an all-time record high over the weekend, only to sell off Monday, bounce back Tuesday — and now they’re falling again Wednesday.

Premarket, silver is down 5.6% from yesterday’s close to $72.15 per ounce. Gold prices are down 0.1% at $4,339.89.

AI

Artificial intelligence gave the stock market its biggest boost in 2025, and two of the biggest names in AI semiconductor chips are so far outperforming the market again on 2025’s final day.

In premarket trading, Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) is up 1% on confirmation that Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA) has completed its $5 billion investment in Intel stock.

Over in Taiwan, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM) is also up 1% on new Nvidia has instructed it to increase contracted production of H200 AI chips for sale to China.

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About the Author Joel South →

Joel South covers large-cap stocks, dividend investing, and major market trends, with a focus on earnings analysis, valuation, and turning complex data into actionable insights for investors.

He brings more than 15 years of experience as an investor and financial journalist, including 12 years at The Motley Fool, where he served as an investment analyst, Bureau Chief, and later led the Fool.com investing news desk. He has also co-hosted an investing podcast and appeared across TV and radio discussing market trends.