A trader wears “2026” glasses on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025.<\/p>\n
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n
May this year prove as lucrative as 2025, when the S&P 500<\/a> rallied 16.39% mostly on the back of enthusiasm over artificial intelligence, though some pockets of the sector (looking at you, Oracle<\/a>) noticeably weakened as the year drew to a close.<\/p>\n Since U.S. markets have only been open for a day thus far, and most investors and analysts might still be stubbornly nursing their New Year’s Day champagne (maybe I’m just speaking for myself), here’s a round-up of CNBC’s end-of-the-year retrospectives that paint, in broad strokes, what 2025 looked like. <\/p>\n Here’s to a fruitful year of trading!<\/p>\n What you need to know today<\/p>\n U.S. attacks Venezuela.\u00a0<\/strong>The military operation, which overthrew and\u00a0captured the country’s president Nicolas Maduro<\/a>, was conducted Saturday stateside. A U.S. federal indictment is charging Maduro with a narco-terrorism conspiracy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Confusion over the future of Venezuela<\/strong>. U.S. Secretary of State\u00a0Marco Rubio\u00a0on Sunday appeared to backtrack<\/a> on President\u00a0Donald Trump’s claim that the U.S. will “run” oil-rich Venezuela<\/a>. Analysts think energy markets should remain steady<\/a> in the near term.<\/p>\n U.S. stocks wobble Friday. <\/strong>On the first trading day of 2026, the S&P 500 rose 0.19%, but gave up earlier gains<\/a> of as much as 0.7%.The pan-European Stoxx 600<\/a> added 0.67%<\/a>. Britain’s FTSE 100<\/a> broke the 10,000 level during trading, but closed at 9,951.14.<\/p>\n BYD overtakes Tesla as top seller of EVs. <\/strong>The Chinese automaker said Thursday it sold 2.26 million battery-powered cars<\/a> in 2025, surpassing Tesla’s 1.64 million<\/a>. It’s a sign of how Chinese EV makers are dominating the market.<\/p>\n [PRO] U.S. labor market data to set the tone. <\/strong>The year kicks off with the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for December, out Friday, which will provide market watchers the first sign of how the economy has been holding up<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n