Market speculation begins at the beginning of 2025 with cryptocurrency stocks rising

Cryptocurrency trading is skyrocketing. Roaring Kitty boosts meme stocks. The broader market is not counting on any clear catalysts.

Animal spirits are on the run at the dawn of 2025 trading.

Many pockets of stock market speculation rose on Thursday, the first session of the new year, right after the S&P 500 closed its best two-year performance since 1998.

Stocks linked to the price of Bitcoin jumped as the cryptocurrency rose again to more than $96,000. The precise strategy It added 3% after rising more than 360% in 2024. Cryptocurrency-related companies Coinbase, Robinhood, Mara Holding and Riot pads It was also trading higher after a big 2024. A crypto token called “fartcoin” has surged in value by 45% and now has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion.

Elsewhere, retailers active on social media were busy playing the guessing game after online personality roared kitty Another encrypted message was posted on the X website of a short clip of the late musician Rick James. Some believe the meme stock leader, AKA Keith Gill, was referring to him Unit programmeswhose shares rose 11%, while others believe he is back to promoting his original favorite GameStopwhose shares also received an offer.

Meanwhile, semiconductor stocks — big winners in 2024 — helped lead the market again after the AI ​​trade lost some momentum at the end of last year. Broadcom jumped 2% on Thursday, while… Nvidia It rose by 1.6%.

What’s more, golf stocks Topgolf Callaway Brands Jumped 8.5% on the back of an upgrade in Jefferies to buy from hold. The investment bank said the golf equipment maker’s shares appeared oversold and raised its price target to 65% above where the stock closed this year.

With market speculation on the rise, general stock indices were on the rise heading into 2025. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced more than 300 points. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes both rose 0.7%.

Thursday’s dramatic moves resemble primary rallies on the back of Donald Trump’s election victory in November, with investors betting that his pro-business policies will propel companies and the economy into strong growth. These gains slowed toward the end of 2024 as concerns grew that the president-elect’s protectionist policies could spark inflation or disrupt chains, and with the Federal Reserve signaling smaller interest rate cuts in 2025.

“Many investors assume that the next administration’s push for deregulation will unleash animal instincts,” Lisa Shalit, chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, said in a recent note to clients. “But what if that would only accelerate the concentration of monopoly power in the hands of a few people, weaken the effectiveness of large-scale economic measures, and leave behind larger segments of the population?”