1. Spot gold and silver hit new record highs, while platinum achieved its eighth consecutive day of gains, reaching a new high since 2008; 2. With all 21 launches this year successful, US private rocket companies saw gains in pre-market trading; 3. Nvidia's stock price surged due to soaring memory prices. Rumors suggest a reduction in the supply of mid-range graphics cards with high video memory; 4. Biotechnology company Abivax gains on acquisition rumors.
With the Christmas holidays approaching in European and American markets, traders are still waiting for the "Santa Claus rally." After two consecutive days of gains last week, the three major stock index futures continued their modest upward trend in pre-market trading on Monday , with technology stocks performing slightly better, led by Nvidia .
As of press time, Nasdaq The S&P 500 futures contract (2603) rose 0.54%, the S&P 500 futures contract rose 0.37%, and the Dow Jones futures contract rose 0.08%.
( Nasdaq daily chart, source: TradingView)
Deutsche Bank Statistics show that since 1928, the S&P 500 index has seen an average increase of nearly 4% from October 28th to the end of the year. Currently, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are still in negative territory during this period. Coincidentally, the S&P 500 index previously experienced corrections led by AI star stocks after reaching highs of 6900 points at the end of October and mid-December.
This year's situation is also quite unique. The benchmark US stock index has delivered double-digit percentage gains for the third consecutive year, even experiencing a pullback of over 20% at the beginning of the year . Take Nvidia , which saw unusual activity in pre-market trading today, as an example: even after the November correction, the AI leader is still more than double its April lows .
(Nvidia daily chart, source: TradingView)
JPMorgan Chase Mislav Matejka, head of global and European equity strategy, said investors may close out positions and reduce directional risk before the end of the year to lock in gains for 2025. He noted, "There are no clear tailwinds (upward boosters) in the very short term."
In contrast to the tepid performance of the stock market, spot gold and silver both hit record highs on Monday amid geopolitical turmoil , heading toward their strongest year since 1979. Spot gold broke through the $4,400 per ounce mark for the first time in history a few hours ago, while silver also moved toward the $70 per ounce mark, with a year-to-date gain approaching 140%.
(Daily charts for spot gold and silver, source: TradingView)
In other news, the United States has tightened its oil blockade against Venezuela, while Ukraine launched its first attack in the Mediterranean on a Russian "shadow fleet" oil tanker. Separately, Xinhua News Agency reported that the Russian Investigative Committee confirmed on Monday that Lieutenant General Salvarov, head of the Operations and Training Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, was killed in an attack south of Moscow.
Besides gold and silver, other precious metals Prices are also accelerating. Spot palladium rose more than 4%, and platinum rose for the eighth consecutive trading day, breaking the $2,000 per ounce mark for the first time since 2008. Similar to silver, these precious metals are showing signs of speculative capital inflows to varying degrees.
(Platinum prices are rising rapidly. Source: TradingView)
Other market news
The San Francisco blackout becomes a testing ground for Robotaxi.
Over the past weekend, San Francisco, known as the "AI capital" of the United States, experienced a rare and severe power outage. As a result, Waymo, Google's self-driving car brand, once again became the focus of negative attention: numerous videos of Waymo vehicles with their hazard lights flashing and blocking intersections at red lights circulated widely online. Waymo's competitor, Tesla... Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on social media that Tesla Robotaxi was not affected by the power outage.
Samsung unveils world's first 2nm smartphone chip.
As 2025 draws to a close, Samsung Electronics suddenly announced the world's first 2nm mobile application chip, the Exynos 2600, on its official website. This chip features a deca-core design, including one 3.8GHz main core, three 3.25GHz high-performance cores, and six 2.75GHz high-efficiency cores. Samsung Electronics reportedly plans to launch a new smartphone powered by the Exynos 2600 at its Galaxy Unpacked event in the United States next February.
【 apple [Fined €98.6 million by Italian market regulator]
The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) announced on Monday that it has fined US tech giant Apple and two of its subsidiaries €98.6 million (approximately RMB 810 million) for allegedly abusing its market dominance in implementing its ATT (App Tracking Transparency) policy. In a statement, the regulator said, "The terms of the ATT policy are unilaterally imposed, harm the interests of Apple's business partners, and are inconsistent with Apple's stated privacy goals." The regulator added that the process does not comply with privacy regulations.
Rocket Lab shares rise as all 21 launches this year have been successful.
As of press time, private rocket company Rocket Lab's stock was up nearly 5% in pre-market trading. The news comes after the company successfully launched its 21st Electron rocket of the year on Sunday. This not only broke the record for the most launches in a single year (21 launches) but also maintained a 100% success rate.
Abivax reportedly becomes Lilly's Acquisition Target
French biotechnology company ABIVAX Société Anonyme rose 17% in pre-market trading on Monday. This followed reports that Eli Lilly is reportedly exploring a potential acquisition of the French biotech firm. It is understood that representatives of the American pharmaceutical company met with the French Ministry of Finance in early December to review the regulatory framework for a potential transaction.
Nvidia is reportedly reducing its supply of mid-range graphics cards with high video memory due to soaring memory prices.
A market rumor that surfaced over the weekend claimed that Nvidia would limit the supply of some 16GB graphics cards due to the soaring price of GDDR7 memory chips, including 16GB versions of the RTX 5060 Ti and 5070 Ti. The supply of mid-range cards for consumers might be concentrated on the 8GB versions of the 5060 and 5060 Ti. Those wanting more memory would be forced to turn to more expensive products.
(Article source: CLS)
