Stocks trade sideways after Congress passes stopgap spending bill

Markets have struggled to maintain their post-election momentum this month

article-image

meunierd/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share


This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.


President Biden over the weekend signed Congress’s bipartisan spending package, narrowly avoiding a government shutdown and keeping federal operations funded through mid-March. 

The bill, cut from 1,500 pages to around 100, does not raise the debt ceiling, a provision President-elect Trump requested. Also out: a 3.8% raise for members of Congress, a bipartisan provision included in the original bill. 

The eleventh-hour deal did little to calm markets, which have struggled to maintain their post-election momentum this month. The S&P 500 is down 1.7% since the start of December. The tech-heavy Nasdaq has fared better, gaining 1.4% month to date, but the index lost almost 3% last week alone. 

The dip, which Sevens Report Research founder Tom Essaye attributes to hawkish commentary from the Fed, political turmoil and disappointing initial jobless claims data last week, could be a “potential preview” for the new year

“Now, to be clear, while I say that, I’m also not saying I expect the market to decline next year,” Essaye added. 

“Instead, I think last week was a preview of 2025 because it was a realization of what I have been warning about: Namely that uncertainty around the key drivers of this bull market is going to rise and we saw that last week with two of the drivers of rally, expectations for Fed rate cuts and pro-growth policies.” 

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were trading fairly flat midway through Monday’s session, up 0.6% and 1%, respectively, as of 2:15 pm ET. Market moves are expected to be relatively soft this week with a limited number of trading days. 

Meanwhile, bitcoin has also stalled. The largest digital currency is down around 13% from its all-time high of more than $108,000. 

Historically, cryptos deliver mixed returns in the final days of the year. When trying to predict what might happen this week, analysts say keeping an eye on macro conditions will be key. 

“While reduced liquidity can heighten volatility, the absence of major institutional activity may actually stabilize prices,” James Toledano, chief operating officer at Unity Wallet, said. “This year, much depends on investor sentiment following 2024’s ETF approval and the Trump-factor as well as other macro trends.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

  • Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
  • Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
  • Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
  • 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
  • Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
  • The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
Tags

Upcoming Events

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research

article-image

Coinbase Asset Management and One River CEO Eric Peters explains why crypto’s not yet focused on fundamentals

article-image

Over the past 24 hours, PumpSwap’s largest liquidity pool by volume contains tokens with the tickers DOGEMOON and ballscoin

article-image

10T Holdings’ Dan Tapiero predicts crypto listings on exchanges are a “mini step” for value moving onchain

article-image

The S&P 500 was mostly flat after a month of losses, and the Nasdaq has been slowly gaining

article-image

Movement Labs is once again at the core of some criticism after it declined to name a market maker offboarded by Binance

article-image

Experts discuss the future of crypto ETFs as Trump puts “money where his mouth is”