Stocks Slip at Year-End as Investors Weigh Fed Minutes, Bitcoin Rallies

Why Most Investors Sell at the Worst Possible Time 👇

U.S. stocks edged lower Tuesday at the closing bell in the year’s penultimate session, with trading conditions muted heading into Wednesday’s final trading day of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 94.87 points, or 0.20%, to 48,367.1. The S&P 500 slipped 9.50 points, or 0.14%, to 6,896.24, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 55.27 points, or 0.24%, to 23,419.1. Small caps lagged, with the Russell 2000 down 1.85 points, or 0.74%, at 248.03.

Volatility remained subdued. The CBOE Volatility Index was last at 14.14, down 0.42%, underscoring a calm backdrop even as investors parsed fresh policy signals and a late-year burst of deal chatter.

In monetary policy, investors reviewed details from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting minutes, which an AInvest summary described as reinforcing a cautious, non-committal approach to easing. The summary said most policymakers favored lowering the federal-funds rate at the meeting but that officials differed over how quickly policy should normalize, and it highlighted a discussion of technical balance-sheet steps aimed at maintaining control of short-term rates—an effort to separate reserve management from any return to quantitative easing.

Corporate developments also drew attention. Bloomberg reported that Warner Bros. Discovery plans to reject a takeover bid from Paramount Skydance after changes to the offer, with concerns centering on whether the bidder improves financial terms and how debt and potential breakup-fee exposure would be addressed. The report said the board is weighing the lack of a guarantee to cover a breakup fee Warner Bros. could owe Netflix if a competing deal scenario were triggered.

In technology, Meta Platforms agreed to acquire AI start-up Manus in a deal that The Wall Street Journal first reported exceeded $2 billion. The write-up pointed to Manus’s traction and its standing on Scale AI’s Remote Labor Index, while also noting that investors are likely to watch for regulatory scrutiny given the company’s history and geographic footprint.

Across major markets, the message was mixed. Bitcoin traded higher, up 1.01% at $88,002.22. Gold rose 0.58% to $4,368.90. Crude oil futures eased, down 0.24% at $57.94. The crosscurrents left equities little changed in direction, but with a slightly softer tone—an unsurprising posture as fund managers and traders move into the final session of the year with positioning largely set.