2025 Market Review: Stocks Hold Gains as Metals Rally Steals the Spotlight

By Benadeta Mwaura - Reporter

Kenya, December 31 2025 - As the trading year comes to a close, global stock markets posted solid gains for 2025, while precious metals, especially silver and gold, delivered standout performance, upending conventional safehaven dynamics and reshaping investor portfolios.

Industrial metals such as copper also enjoyed strong rallies thanks to persistent supply deficits and structural demand from energy transition and technology sectors.

Major equity indexes around the world are poised for double digit returns in 2025, marking a third consecutive year of broad stock market gains amid mixed macroeconomic signals. U.S. benchmarks closed near record highs for much of the year, with the S&P 500 gaining roughly 17%, the Dow Jones up about 13.7%, the Nasdaq climbing over 20%, and the Russell 2000 rising on small cap strength.

However, as the year wound down, markets dipped slightly on lower trading volumes, with technology shares, including giants like Nvidia and Apple, showing modest pressures late in December. An overview noted that global stocks have added an estimated $15 trillion in market cap in 2025, driven by rebound flows from April’s tariff induced downturn, strong corporate earnings and sustained investor appetite for growth assets.

Contextual drivers were, AI sector leadership and renewed growth confidence buoyed tech stocks for much of the year, geopolitical risk and tariff policy played a mixed role, initially disrupting markets then partly destabilising them and the threat of reduced global growth and a softening dollar shaped rotation into defensive assets.

Silver’s Breakout Year

Spot silver enjoyed one of the most remarkable rallies in commodities in living memory, climbing more than 160% in 2025 according to Reuters price data, significantly outpacing gold’s notable advance.

Silver’s surge was driven by a “perfect storm” of factors: strong investment demand, industrial usage tied to renewable energy and AI data infrastructure, and tight supply dynamics. At peak levels late in December, silver prices briefly surpassed $80 per ounce, marking record territory before yearend volatility and profit taking pressures emerged.

Gold also enjoyed an exceptional year. With strong safehaven demand and expectations of interest rate cuts in 2026, spot gold prices rose roughly 66–72% in 2025, marking the biggest annual gain since the late 1970s. Gold’s rally included record highs above $4,500 per ounce in December, levels not seen since the 1979 price spike, before moderate pullbacks related to profit taking and strengthening dollar cues.

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Central banks remained supportive buyers of bullion, albeit slightly below 2024’s pace, on track to purchase hundreds of tons of gold in 2025 while physically backed gold ETFs saw unusually strong inflows approximating record levels, reflecting investor hedging behaviour in uncertain macro conditions.

Copper enjoyed its best performance in over a decade, climbing more than 35–40% as supply disruptions and structural demand from renewable energy, electric vehicles and AIrelated infrastructure strained global stockpiles. Prices peaked around $12,000+ per tonne, driven by speculation around long term deficits, aging mine bases and cautious inventory levels, a scenario analysts believe could persist into 2026.

Other base metals such as lithium, nickel and aluminum also benefited from the broader industrial metals upswing, buoyed by technology and cleanenergy transitional demand, though their performances were varied due to differing supply dynamics. By contrast, traditional energy commodities such as crude oil underperformed, with Brent and WTI crude off roughly 15% for the year despite geopolitical flareups, reflecting oversupply concerns and muted demand growth.

Soft commodity markets, including cocoa, coffee and sugar, entered 2025 with weakness, weighed down by subdued demand and favorable weather patterns that increased output, limiting price momentum. Several factors shaped 2025’s unusual asset performance mix: Central Bank Interest Rate Expectations, Sticky inflation and mixed growth data shifted investor expectations toward potential rate cuts in 2026, supporting long duration assets and precious metals.

SafeHaven Demand, Ongoing geopolitical tensions, including conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, and banking stress periodically lifted demand for gold and silver. AI and Industrial Demand, Rapid growth in AI infrastructure and renewable energy technologies lifted industrial metals that are critical inputs to electrification and data center expansion.

Currency Dynamics, A softer U.S. dollar for much of the year made dollar priced commodities more attractive to foreign buyers, amplifying bullion and base metal gains. Analysts and forecasts suggest that the precious metals rally could carry into 2026, particularly if anticipated Federal Reserve rate cuts materialize, with some projections even targeting gold approaching $5,000 per ounce in medium term scenarios.

However, markets may face mean reversion risks, especially if global growth surprises to the upside or if headline macroeconomic data dampens safe haven flows in 2026. Equity markets, for their part, could see more moderate gains compared with 2025’s momentum, as investors weigh stretched valuations, evolving AI narratives and potential cyclical shifts in the economic cycle.