#us-equities

#us-equities

The iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF ( NYSE:ITOT) returned 16.4% through mid-December, tracking the broad U.S. equity market's strong 2025. With tech stocks dominating returns and the fund trading near its November peak, investors are asking whether another double-digit year is realistic or if the easy gains are behind us. The answer hinges on a handful of macro forces and fund-specific dynamics that will either extend the rally or force a reset.

The S&P 500 and NASDAQ futures are trading down over 1% on Tuesday, following Palantir's 6.9% decline despite beating earnings expectations and giving strong forward guidance. Concerns over an AI bubble continue to mount. Tuesday's sell-off follows a wild start to the week, during which the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded lower due to weakness in Merck Inc. (NYSE: MRK) and UnitedHealth Group Inc. ( NYSE: UNH).

U.S. equity markets ended the week lower as a mix of trade tensions and political uncertainty unsettled investors. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 initially held firm, supported by continued enthusiasm for artificial intelligence-related companies. A major boost came from Advanced Micro Devices' announcement of a strategic partnership with OpenAI, which lifted AMD's shares by more than 20% early in the week.

With government data releases halted by the shutdown, markets turned to private indicators for clues about the economy's health. Payroll provider ADP reported a surprising 32,000 job losses in September-far below expectations for job gains-fuelling expectations for Fed rate cuts. However, several Fed officials maintained a cautious tone. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee warned of persistent services inflation, while Dallas Fed's Lorie Logan suggested a slower path to policy normalization.

Much of this edge stems from seasonal factors, including the Christmas holiday shopping surge that boosts retail and consumer sectors from November through December. Strong earnings reports in Q4 also often fuel optimism, as companies close out the year with solid results. The quarter also aligns with the close of the old investing adage to "sell in May and go away," where investors who sidelined themselves during the slower summer months return to the markets adding capital, driving demand.

U.S. stocks have made furious rebounds, setting fresh record highs and eroding the outperformance that European markets have enjoyed for much of this year. The S&P 500 is now up 13% year to date and the Nasdaq is up 17%. As recently as late June, when the broad market index had retaken its prior all-time high, both were up 5%.

Wall Street traders drove stocks lower amid a selloff in tech shares that have powered the surge from April's meltdown. That's despite economic data that did little to alter bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts, with bonds and the dollar seeing small moves. Equities fell after a rally that drove the S&P 500 to all-time highs. The market is bracing for what has historically been the weakest month for US shares.

U.S. equities faced a notable decline, with the Dow falling 1.32% amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, reversing earlier market optimism.