CNBC Business News Update - Market Close: Stocks Conclude Strong Week With Lackluster Session, Movie Industry Looks For Strong 2025 Finish, Target Shares Rise As Activist Investor Reportedly Applies Pressure 12-26-2025

Episode Date: December 26, 2025

The latest in business, financial, and markets news and how it impacts your money, reported by CNBC's Peter Schacknow Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm Peter Shack now, CNBC. Wall Street has concluded its best week since the end of November, despite a decidedly lackluster Friday session. The Dow fell 20 points to close at 48,711. The S&P 500 was just below break, even losing two points. The NASDAQ was down 20 points or a tenth of 1%. The averages were lower for the first time in six sessions. The stock market has been helped lately by an unexpectedly strong economy,

particularly in the area of consumer spending. Jared Bernstein, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Biden, says he's looking at 2026 with some caution. There are risks to the outlook. The labor market has weakened. And in fact, we've seen wage growth slow, particularly for folks in the bottom half. And if you talk to businesses, they will tell you that most of the spending has been driven by folks at the top. So there's this K-shaped story that I believe is pretty accurate.

But you're talking aggregate numbers, and in the aggregate, consumer spending and investment has been strong. The last few days of the year will be key for the movie industry, with total box office receipts for 2025, having a shot at crossing the $9 billion mark. That would be the best year since before the pandemic. Comscore senior media analyst Paul Deribedean says the industry does have some momentum going for it in the final days of the year. On Christmas Day, we had Marty Supreme going to work. wide release, Song Sung Blue opened, and Anaconda. So we really want to see this final week of the year perform quite well. In the past, historically, between the eight days between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, we can generate in the domestic box office alone in the 480 to 500 million

range. Target was Friday's top S&P 500 performer up more than 3%. According to the Financial Times, hedge fund Tom's capital investment management has made a significant investment in the retailer and is pressuring it to take steps to combat falling sales. Right behind Target, mining company Freeport MacMoran, it was up over 2%. Miners are benefiting from the soaring price of precious metals, gold and silver set fresh record highs during Friday's trading. Peter Shack now, CNBC.