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December 31, 2025

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S&P 500 Breaking Out Again: What This Means for Your Portfolio

The S&P 500 ($SPX) just logged its fifth straight trading box breakout, which means that, of the five trading ranges the index has experienced since the April lows, all have been resolved to the upside.

How much longer can this last? That’s been the biggest question since the massive April 9 rally. Instead of assuming the market is due to roll over, it’s been more productive to track price action and watch for potential changes along the way. So far, drawdowns have been minimal, and breakouts keep occurring. Nothing in the price action hints at a lasting change — yet.

While some are calling this rally “historic,” we have a recent precedent. Recall that from late 2023 through early 2024, the index had a strong start and gave way to a consistent, steady trend.

From late October 2023 through March 2024, the S&P 500 logged seven consecutive trading box breakouts. That streak finally paused with a pullback from late March to early April, which, as we now know, was only a temporary hiccup. Once the bid returned, the S&P 500 went right back to carving new boxes and climbing higher.

New 52-Week Highs Finally Picking Up

If there’s been one gripe about this rally, it’s that the number of new highs within the index has lagged. As we’ve discussed before, among all the internal breadth indicators available, new highs almost always lag — that’s normal. What we really want to see is whether the number of new highs begins to exceed prior peaks as the market continues to rise, which it has, as shown by the blue line in the chart below.

As of Wednesday’s close, 100 S&P 500 stocks were either at new 52-week highs or within 3% of them. That’s a strong base. We expect this number to continue rising as the market climbs, especially if positive earnings reactions persist across sectors.

Even when we get that first day with 100+ S&P 500 stocks making new 52-week highs, though, it might not be the best time to initiate new longs.

The above chart shows that much needs to align for that many stocks to peak in unison, which has historically led to at least a short-term consolidation, if not deeper pullbacks — as highlighted in yellow. Every time is different, of course, but this is something to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.

Trend Check: GoNoGo Still “Go”

The GoNoGo Trend remains in bullish mode, with the recent countertrend signals having yet to trigger a greater pullback.

Active Bullish Patterns

We still have two live bullish upside targets of 6,555 and 6,745, which could be with us for a while going forward. For the S&P 500 to get there, it will need to form new, smaller versions of the trading boxes.

Failed Bearish Patterns

In the chart below, you can view a rising wedge pattern on the recent price action, the third since April. The prior two wedges broke down briefly and did not lead to a major downturn. The largest pullbacks in each case occurred after the S&P 500 dipped below the lower trendline of the pattern.

The deepest drawdown so far is 3.5%, which is not exactly a game-changer. Without downside follow-through, a classic bearish pattern simply can’t be formed, let alone be broken down from.

We’ll continue to monitor these formations as they develop because, at some point, that will change.

Top 5 Small-cap Biotech Stocks of 2025

The NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (INDEXNASDAQ:NBI) is trading at three year highs despite market volatility, responding to breakthrough innovations and increased deals involving NASDAQ biotech stocks.

After dropping to a low of 3,637.05 in October 2023, the index climbed to a nearly three year peak of 4,954.813 on September 19, 2024. While the index pulled back to 4,530.69 in August 2025, it staged a robust recovery in the second half of the year, closing at 5,766.59 on December 29, 2025, a gain of approximately 34 percent for the year.

The top NASDAQ biotech stocks have seen sizeable share price increases over the past year. For those interested in investing in biotech companies, the best-performing small-cap biotech stocks are outlined below.

Data was gathered on December 29, 2025, using TradingView’s stock screener. Small-cap biotech stocks with market caps between US$50 million and US$500 million at that time were considered for this list.

1. SELLAS Life Sciences Group (NASDAQ:SLS)

Year-to-date gain: 210.19 percent
Market cap: US$477.18 million
Share price: US$3.35

SELLAS Life Sciences Group is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on novel cancer immunotherapies. The company’s approach involves ‘teaching’ the immune system to recognize and kill cancer cells by targeting specific proteins that are overexpressed in tumors.

Its flagship asset is galinpepimut-S (GPS), a vaccine-like immunotherapy for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are in remission but at high risk of relapse. Its secondary asset, SLS009, is a highly selective CDK9 inhibitor currently showing promise in Phase 2 trials for various blood cancers.

The company’s stock price surged on December 29 after SELLAS shared an update on the Phase 3 REGAL trial evaluating GPS as a maintenance therapy in patients with AML. The trial is designed as a blind survival study, with the end point triggered on the 80th patient death.

In the update, the company reported that 72 deaths had occurred as of December 26. Because it is taking longer than expected for the trial to complete, which was previously anticipated to happen before the end of 2025, investors are speculating that the patients in the trial are living significantly longer than the historical average.

2. IO Biotech (NASDAQ:IOBT)

Year-to-date gain: 129.47 percent
Market cap: US$144.28 million
Share price: US$2.16

IO Biotech is developing immune-modulating therapeutic cancer vaccines based on its T-win technology platform, designed to activate T cells to target both tumor cells and the immune-suppressive cells.

The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company’s lead cancer vaccine candidate is IO102-IO103, which has the brand name Cylembio. IO102-IO103 has breakthrough therapy designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when used in combination with Merck’s (NYSE:MRK) anti-PD-1 therapy Keytruda for the treatment of advanced melanoma based on positive Phase 1/2 first line metastatic melanoma data.

The candidate reached a major milestone in August 2025 with the readout of its pivotal Phase 3 trial of IO102-IO103 with Keytruda for treating advanced melanoma. While the vaccine combined with Keytruda showed a significant survival benefit — reaching 19.4 months of progression-free survival compared to 11 months for Keytruda alone — it narrowly missed the strict statistical significance threshold.

Following a December meeting with the FDA to discuss a path forward for Cylembio, IO Biotech ended the year focused on a new registrational trial to address the Phase 3 miss and securing further funding to extend its operations into 2026.

Throughout 2025, the company continued to expand its pipeline. In November, it presented new pre-clinical data for IO112 targeting arginase 1 and for IO170 targeting transforming growth factor.

3. Tiziana Life Sciences (NASDAQ:TLSA)

Year-to-date gain: 124.64 percent
Market cap: US$184.22 million
Share price: US$1.55

Tiziana Life Sciences is a clinical-stage biopharma which is developing therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, degenerative diseases and cancer-related to the liver. Its pipeline of candidates is built on its patented drug delivery technology that provides a possible alternative to intravenous delivery.

Tiziana’s lead candidate is intranasal foralumab, a fully human anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody, which it is currently studying for treatment of a range of conditions.

In March, the company filed an investigational new drug application with the FDA for a Phase 2 clinical trial in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which is supported by the ALS Association. The Phase 2 trial is slated to begin in January 2026. Tiziana also began dosing patients in a Phase 2a trial for multiple system atrophy in August.

In April, John Hopkins University and the University of Massachusetts commenced dosing of the biotech company’s intranasal foralumab in Phase 2 trials for patients with non-active secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). On May 7, the company shared positive results from the use of its lead candidate in improving the quality of life for patients with that form of MS.

Tiziana is also studying the use of intranasal foralumab for treating moderate Alzheimer’s disease. On May 9, it announced that PET scans of a patient with moderate Alzheimer’s showed a significant reduction in microglia activation associated with neuroinflammation after three months of treatment.

On July 21, the company announced an ‘unexpected discovery’ following immunologic analysis of the patient with Alzheimer’s disease: ‘The analysis revealed an increase in phagocytosis markers in classical monocytes, suggesting that nasal foralumab may enhance their ability to clear amyloid plaques. This unexpected effect may open new avenues for treating Alzheimer’s Disease by targeting both inflammation and amyloid accumulation.’

The company dosed the first patient in its randomized Phase 2 Alzheimer’s trial in December.

To end the year, Tiazana submitted a comprehensive safety report to the FDA documenting over 37 patient-years of treatment with no serious drug-related adverse events across its studies.

4. Spero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SPRO)

Year-to-date gain: 119.05 percent
Market cap: US$129.58 million
Share price: US$2.30

Spero Therapeutics is developing novel treatments for rare diseases and multi-drug resistant bacterial infections with high unmet need.

The company’s lead drug candidate is tebipenem pivoxil hydrobromide (HBr), a late-stage development asset developed in collaboration with pharma giant GSK (NYSE:GSK). GSK has an exclusive license agreement to commercialize the drug candidate in most markets.

Tebipenem HBr is an oral carbapenem developed to treat complicated urinary tract infections (cUTIs), including pyelonephritis. The FDA granted tebipenem HBr qualified infectious disease product and fast-track designations.

Spero’s stock surged 245 percent on May 28 to reach US$2.35 after the company reported that its Phase 3 trial evaluating tebipenem HBr for treating cUTIs met its primary endpoint and stopped early for efficacy.

On December 19, GSK officially filed the new drug application resubmission to the FDA for tebipenem HBr for treating cUTIs supported by the Phase 3 results. This filing triggered a US$25 million milestone payment to Spero that is expected in Q1 2026.

5. OKYO Pharma (NASDAQ:OKYO)

Year-to-date gain: 60.50 percent
Market cap: US$74.85 million
Share price: US$1.91

OKYO Pharma is a clinical-stage biopharma company developing therapies for the treatment of neuropathic corneal pain and dry eye disease. Its lead candidate is urcosimod, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and non-opioid analgesic.

OKYO is currently evaluating urcosimod for the treatment of neuropathic corneal pain. The treatment received fast track designation from the FDA in May after the company ended its Phase 2 clinical trial early to analyze data.

On July 17, the company posted strong top-line data from the Phase 2 trial and stated it is planning a meeting with the FDA to discuss next steps for its lead drug candidate. The following day, OKYO received US$1.9 million in non-dilutive funding to support its clinical development of urcosimod.

In September, OKYO announced a 120 patient, multi-center multiple ascending dose clinical trial designed to identify the optimal dose for Phase 3 registration.

A scientific breakthrough followed on December 11, when new imaging data revealed that urcosimod may actually help restore corneal nerve structure, showing median increases in nerve fiber count and length, while those in the placebo group saw median decreases for both.

Securities Disclosure: I, Meagan Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

Sankamap Provides an Update on Status of Late Filing of Financial Statements

Sankamap Metals Inc. (CSE: SCU) (‘Sankamap’ or the ‘Company’) the Company and its auditor continue to work diligently toward the completion and filing of the Company’s annual audited financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025 (the ‘Required Filings’). The Company has applied to the Alberta Securities Commission for an extension of the Management Cease Trade Order (‘MCTO’), however, there can be no assurance that a further extension will be granted. The additional delay in completing the Required Filings is primarily due to the auditor awaiting the receipt of certain required information from government authorities in Solomon Islands, as well as timing constraints associated with the holiday period. The Company estimates that approximately 90% of the audit work has been completed.

The Required Filings were due to be filed by October 28, 2025. In connection with the anticipated delays in making the Required Filings, the Company made an application for a Management Cease Trade Order (‘MCTO‘) under National Policy 12-203 Management Cease Trade Orders (‘NP 12-203‘) to the Alberta Securities Commission, as principal regulator for the Company, and the MCTO was issued on October 29, 2025. The MCTO restricts all trading by the Company’s CEO and CFO in securities of the Company, whether direct or indirect. The MCTO does not affect the ability of persons who are not directors, officers or insiders of the Company to trade their securities. The MCTO will remain in effect until the Required Filings are filed or until it is revoked or varied.

The Company expects to proceed with the filing of its interim first-quarter financial statements shortly after the Required Filings have been completed and submitted.

The Company confirms that it intends to satisfy the provisions of the alternative information guidelines described in NP 12-203 by issuing bi-weekly default status reports in the form of a news release until it meets the Required Filings requirement. The Company has not taken any steps towards any insolvency proceeding and the Company has no material information relating to its affairs that has not been generally disclosed.

For further information with respect to the MCTO, please refer to the Company’s news releases dated October 21, 2025, November 4, 2025, November 18, 2025, December 3, 2025 and December 17, 2025, available for viewing on the Company’s SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

About Sankamap Metals Inc.

Sankamap Metals Inc. (CSE: SCU) is a Canadian mineral exploration company dedicated to the discovery and development of high-grade copper and gold deposits through its flagship Oceania Project, located in the South Pacific. The Company’s fully permitted assets are strategically positioned in the Solomon Islands, along a prolific geological trend that hosts major copper-gold deposits; including Newcrest’s Lihir Mine, with a resource of 71.9 million ounces of gold¹ (310 Mt containing 23 Moz Au at 2.3 g/t P+P, 520 Mt containing 39 Moz Au at 2.3 g/t indicated, 81 Mt containing 5 Moz Au at 1.9 g/t measured, 61 Mt containing 4.9 Moz Au at 2.3 g/t Inferred).

Exploration is actively advancing at both the Kuma and Fauro properties, part of Sankamap’s Oceania Project in the Solomon Islands. Historical work has already highlighted the mineral potential of both sites, which lie along a highly prospective copper and gold-bearing trend, suggesting the possibility of further, yet-to-be-discovered deposits.

At Kuma, the property is believed to host an underexplored and largely untested porphyry copper-gold (Cu-Au) system. Historical rock chip sampling has returned consistently elevated gold values above 0.5 g/t Au, including a standout sample assaying 11.7% Cu and 13.5 g/t Au2; underscoring the area’s significant potential.

At Fauro, particularly at the Meriguna Target, historical trenching has returned highly encouraging results, including 8.0 meters at 27.95 g/t Au and 14.0 meters at 8.94 g/t Au3. Complementing these results are exceptional grab sample assays, including historical values of up to 173 g/t Au3, along with recent sampling by Sankamap at the Kiovakase Target, which returned numerous high-grade copper values, reaching up to 4.09% Cu. In addition, limited historical shallow drilling intersected 35.0 meters at 2.08 g/t Au3, further underscoring the property’s strong mineral potential and the merit for continued exploration. With a commitment to systematic exploration and a team of experienced professionals, Sankamap aims to unlock the untapped potential of underexplored regions and create substantial value for its shareholders. For more information, please refer to SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca), under Sankamap’s profile.

1.Newcrest Technical Report, 2020 (Lihir: 310 Mt containing 23 Moz Au at 2.3 g/t P+P, 520 Mt containing 39 Moz Au at 2.3 g/t indicated, 81 Mt containing 5 Moz Au at 1.9 g/t measured, 61 Mt containing 4.9 Moz Au at 2.3 g/t Inferred)

2. Historical grab, soil and BLEG samples from SolGold Kuma Review June 2015, and SolGold plc Annual Report 2013/2012

3. September 2010-June 2012 press releases from Solomon Gold Ltd. and SolGold Fauro Island Summary Technical Info 2012

QP Disclosure

The technical content for the Oceania Project in this news release has been reviewed and approved by John Florek, M.Sc., P.Geol., a Qualified Person in accordance with CIM guidelines. Mr. John Florek is in good standing with the Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (Member ID:1228) and a director and officer of the Company.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

s/ ‘John Florek’
John Florek, M.Sc., P.Geol
Chief Executive Officer
Sankamap Metals Inc.

Contact:
John Florek, CEO
T: (807) 228-3531
E: johnf@sankamap.com

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not approved nor disapproved this press release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made and information contained herein may constitute ‘forward-looking information’ and ‘forward-looking statements’ within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. These statements and information are based on facts currently available to Sankamap and there is no assurance that the actual results will meet management’s expectations. Forward-looking statements and information may be identified by such terms as ‘anticipates,’ ‘believes,’ ‘targets,’ ‘estimates,’ ‘plans,’ ‘expects,’ ‘may,’ ‘will,’ ‘could’ or ‘would.’

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements regarding management’s expectations about obtaining the MCTO and completing the Required Filings within the anticipated timeline. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Sankamap does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements or information, except as required by applicable securities laws. For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company’s continuous disclosure filings that are available at www.sedarplus.ca.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/279270

News Provided by Newsfile via QuoteMedia

This post appeared first on investingnews.com