Global shares hover near record peak; gold, silver scale new highs

Global shares steadied near record highs on Wednesday, capping a year of brisk artificial intelligence-driven gains, while commodities, such as gold and silver, extended their ‍bullish run to new ‌all-time highs as 2025 draws to a close.

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 notched a closing record as the elusive Santa Claus rally ‍finally set in. US data showing the economy expanded at a much faster-than-expected clip in the third quarter boosted risk sentiment, but weighed on bonds.

Europe’s STOXX 600 index was unchanged in early trade while the UK blue-chip FTSE 100 fell 0.2%.

Bourses in Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris will have half-day ‍trading sessions, while those in Germany and Milan are closed.

Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures were also little changed amid thin liquidity.

Gold and ‍silver have been among this week’s big movers, as many markets gear up for a shortened trading day ahead of the year-end holidays. Spot gold prices were last unchanged at $4,489.91 per ounce, having scaled a new record high of $4525.86 earlier to bring its gain for this year to 72%. Silver jumped 1.2% to a record $72.27 per ounce, and was set for an annual rise of almost 150%, its best year ever.

Tuesday’s data showing the US economy grew at its fastest pace in two years in the third quarter was “exceptional”, according to Chris ‌Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Northlight Asset Management.

“If the economy keeps producing at this level, then there isn’t as much ‍need to worry about a slowing economy and concerns may actually flip back to the price-stability constraint,” he wrote in a note.

Over at Goldman Sachs, economists are expecting full-year global GDP growth of 2.8% in 2026, slightly higher than 2.5% consensus, and 2.6% in the US against 2% ​consensus.

“Our 2026 global economic outlook argues for above-consensus growth and falling inflation next year,” said the Wall Street bank’s chief US economist David Mericle in a note.

A reduced drag from tariffs as well as more tax cuts, easier financial conditions and a bump from the end of the government shutdown ​is reflected in ‍Goldman’s forecast.

Asian stocks also rose earlier, catching a rally on Wall Street, with the broadest index ‌of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.4%. The index is up 26% for the year, its best performance since 2017.

“As equity markets enter the fourth year of a bull market, our underlying market call remains constructive,” said Scott Chronert, a US equity strategist at Citi, who is tipping another year of ​upsides for equities ‌on earnings growth and high valuations.

“Yet, high-performance dispersion within themes, sectors, and market cap is expected.” In the foreign exchange market, the yen gained for a third straight session amid intervention risk from Japanese authorities. The dollar lost 0.3% to 155.83 yen, retreating from the 158 level zone that drew intervention in the past.

The euro was largely steady at $1.18, having rallied 14% this year. Against other major currencies, the dollar was down ‌about 10% this year.

Treasuries rallied this year on the resumption of Fed rate cuts. Two-year Treasury yields were steady at 3.532%, having fallen by 72 basis points this year, while the 10-year yield traded at 4.1589%, down 42 bps for the year.

Oil prices held steady in early trade but were set for a third straight year of declines. Brent crude ‍futures ticked 0.1% higher to $62.45 a barrel, but were down 16% for the year.

The FTSE 100 closed lower in quiet trading on Wednesday, as investors wound down some positions ‍in pharma heavyweights AstraZeneca and GSK in a truncated Christmas ‍Eve session.

The UK’s blue-chip FTSE 100 closed down 0.2%, moving sideways since hitting a five-week high last week following the Bank of England’s 25-basis-point rate cut.

AstraZeneca and GSK dropped about 0.5% each.

The domestically focussed midcap FTSE ‌250 index was down 0.07%, but still managed to ‍notch its second straight weekly gain.

Trading volumes remained thin heading into the holidays, as many markets are either ​shut or operating on reduced hours on Christmas Eve.

London’s stock market will remain closed on Thursday and Friday for Christmas and ​Boxing ‍Day holidays.

Oil major BP agreed to sell a ‌65% stake in its Castrol lubricants business to US investment firm Stonepeak for about $6 billion, a significant step in the ​oil major’s $20 billion ‌divestment plan aimed at cutting debt and boosting returns. Its shares were down 0.4%.

The FTSE 100 index is set to close out a fifth straight year of ‌gains, with a 20.7% advance that has outperformed European and US benchmarks, fuelled by miners, financials and defence shares.

Agencies