Profit Taking May Contribute To Initial Weakness On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a lower open on Monday, with stocks likely to give back ground after turning in a strong performance last week.

Profit taking may contribute to initial weakness on Wall Street, as some traders look to cash in on recent gains going into the end of the year.

Partly reflecting renewed strength among tech stocks, the Dow and the S&P 500 ended last Thursday’s trading at record closing highs before edging slightly lower last Friday.

A pullback by big-name tech companies may weigh on the markets, as shares of Oracle (ORCL) are tumbling by more than 2 percent in pre-market trading.

Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) and Micron Technology (MU) are also seeing notable pre-market weakness after posting strong gains last week.

Overall trading activity may remain somewhat subdued, however, as some traders are likely to remain away from their desks ahead of the New Year’s Day holiday on Thursday.

After trending higher for several sessions, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing slightly lower.

The S&P 500 reached a new record intraday high in early trading before closing down 2.11 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 6,929.94.

The Dow also edged down 20.19 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 48,710.97, while the Nasdaq slipped 20.21 points or 0.1 percent to 23,593.10.

Despite the choppy trading on the day, the major averages all posted strong gains for the week. While the S&P 500 shot up by 1.4 percent, the Dow and the Nasdaq both jumped by 1.2 percent.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as many traders remained away from their desks following the Christmas Day holiday on Thursday, leading to below average trading activity.

Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves following the recent upward trend, which lifted the Dow and S&P 500 to new record closing highs.

Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day.

Gold stocks saw significant strength, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index climbing by 1.4 percent to a new record closing high as the price of the precious metal also jumped to new highs.

Steel stocks also saw some strength on the day, while airline and telecom stocks showed moderate moves to the downside.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are surging $1.41 to $58.15 a barrel after plunging $1.61 to $56.74 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after jumping $49.90 to $4,552.70 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are tumbling $84.30 to $4,460.40 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 156.26 yen versus the 156.54 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1767 compared to last Friday’s $1.1771.

Asia

Asian stock markets turned in a mixed performance on Monday amidst weak sentiment reflected in Wall Street Futures and rising geopolitical tensions.

Sentiment was boosted by the strength of tech shares as well as fresh measures announced by China to support consumption. Geopolitical concerns related to China, the Middle East as well as Eastern Europe and the thin trading ahead of New Year holidays limited gains.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index edged slightly higher to finish trading at 3,965.28, versus the previous close of 3,963.68. The day’s trading ranged between 3,956.95 and 3,983.98 and helped the index record a nine-session winning streak.

The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 Index 0.4 percent to close trading at 50,526.92. The day’s trading range was between 50,354 and 50,744.

Itochu Corp. jumped 5.3 percent. Sumitomo Metal Mining as well as Fujikura gained a little less than 4 percent. Sapporo Holdings as well as Mitsui followed with gains of close to 3 percent.

Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma led losses with a decline of 3.7 percent. Trend Micro as well as Otsuka Holdings followed with losses of more than 3 percent. DIC Corp. and Panasonic both declined more than 2.5 percent.

The Korean Stock Exchange’s Kospi Index surged 2.2 percent from the previous close of 4,129.68 to close trading at 4,220.56. The day’s trading range was between 4,146.48 and 4,2220.56.

The Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange slid 0.7 percent from the previous close to finish trading at 25,635.23. The day’s trading range was between a high of 26,082.94 and a low of 25,630.75.

Australia’s S&P/ASX200 Index closed trading at 8,725.70, falling 0.4 percent from the previous close of 8,762.70. The day’s trading range was between 8,725.70 and 8,784.20.

South32, Block and Zip all rallied more than 2 percent. Capstone Copper DRC and Iluka Resources both gained close to 2 percent.

Netwealth Group plunged 6.4 percent followed by aerospace business DroneShield that declined 4.9 percent. Mesoblast lost 3.1 percent. Magellan Financial Group as well as Temple & Webster Group erased a little less than 3 percent.

The NZX 50 Index of the New Zealand Stock Exchange edged slightly lower to close trading at 13,525.99, versus the previous close of 13,529.06. The day’s trading ranged between 13,482.12 and 13,554.53.

Pacific Edge topped gains with a surge of 5.3 percent. EROAD followed with a gain of 4.2 percent. KMD Brands added 3.7 percent. Sky Network Television as well as Vital Healthcare rallied more than 2.5 percent.

Investore Property topped losses with a decline of 1.7 percent. Synlait Milk, EBOS, Skycity Entertainment, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare all declined more than a percent.

Europe

European stocks have swung between gains and losses in cautious trading on Monday amid a lack of significant triggers. Defense stocks shed ground amid signs of progress in Ukraine peace talks.

U.S. President Donald Trump said a Ukraine peace deal is “getting a lot closer” although territorial issues remain unsolved.

While the German DAX Index is down by 0.1 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.2 percent.

In the UK market, miners Fresnillo, Glencore, Anglo American Plc and Antofagasta moved up 1 to 2 percent.

Convatec Group, Entain, Mondi, Segro, Barratt Redrow, Berkeley Group Holdings, Persimmon and Experian were the notable gainers from other sectors.

Babcock International drifted lower by about 2.5 percent. Beazley, Hiscox, British American Tobacco, BT Group, Endeavour Mining, BAE Systems, Melrose Industries, Easyjet and Rolls-Royce Holdings lost 0.9 to 1.7 percent.

In the German market, Rheinmetall slid nearly 2.5 percent. Siemens Energy shed about 1 percent, while Munich RE, Qiagen, Fresenius, Scout 24, GEA Group, Allianz and Deutsche Bank posted modest losses.

Continental moved up 2.1 percent. Adidas, Mercedes-Benz, BASF, Brenntag, Bayer and Vonovia gained 1 to 1.7 percent. BMW, SAP, Beiersdorf, Heidelberg Materials, Zalando and Merck also moved higher.

In the French market, ArcelorMittal climbed 1.3 percent. Saint Gobain, TP and Publicis Groupe gained 1 to 1.2 percent.

STMicroElectronics, Michelin, Sanofi, Edenred, TotalEnergies, Societe Generale, Accor and Veolia Environment posted moderate gains.

Thales, Safran, Eurofins Scientific, Kering, Pernod Ricard, AXA and Danone lost 0.4 to 1.2 percent.

In economic news, the number of people registered as unemployed in mainland France declined by 21,500 in November 2025 to 3.129 million, following two consecutive periods of sharp increases. In October, jobless claims stood at 3.151 million, a seven-month high.

On year-on-year basis, the total number of registered unemployed increased by 197,300 compared to November 2024.

U.S. Economic News

The National Association of Realtors is due to release its report on pending home sales in the month of November at 10 am ET. Pending home sales are expected to increase by 0.8 percent in November after jumping by 1.9 percent in October.

At 10:30 am ET, the Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its report on crude oil inventories in the week ended December 19th. Crude oil inventories are expected to decrease by 2.6 million barrels after falling by 1.3 million barrels in the previous week.