US Equity Markets Fall on Final Day of 2025 Amid Broad Market Decline

04:04 PM EST, 12/31/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Major US equity indexes closed lower Wednesday amid a broad market decline, as the year came to an end, despite a better-than-expected jobless claims report.

* Seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims fell to 199,000 for the week ended Dec. 27 from 215,000 in the previous week, a lower figure than the 218,000 projected by analysts in a Bloomberg survey. The four-week moving average rose to 218,750 from 217,000 in the week prior.

* US crude oil stocks, including the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, contracted by 1.7 million barrels during the week ended Dec. 26 after increasing by 1.2 million barrels the week before. Natural gas stocks also dipped by 38 billion cubic feet to 3.375 trillion cubic feet for the same period, representing a 1.6% reduction from the prior year.

* February West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell $0.49 to settle at $57.46 per barrel, while March Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen down $0.42 at $60.91.

* Nike (NKE) shares were up about 4.4%, after Chief Executive Officer Elliott Hill bought 16,388 class B common shares at $61.10 apiece.

* Corcept Therapeutics (CORT) shares fell roughly 50% after the company said the Food and Drug Administration issued a complete response letter for its new drug application seeking approval of relacorilant to treat hypertension secondary to hypercortisolism. The FDA determined additional evidence of effectiveness is needed to support a favorable benefit-risk assessment, the company added.

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