NEW YORK, December 28, 2025, 22:39 ET — Market closed
- Linde shares slipped 0.03% to $424.77 at the Dec. 26 close; last after-hours quote was $426.63. [1]
- Wall Street finished nearly flat in thin post-Christmas trading; materials led S&P 500 sectors. [2]
- Investors are watching Fed minutes due Dec. 30 and Linde’s next results, expected Feb. 5. [3]
Linde plc shares ended the last U.S. session little changed, slipping 0.03% to $424.77 at the Dec. 26 close, according to Wall Street Journal market data. The stock was last quoted at $426.63 at 6:22 p.m. ET in after-hours trading, which is trading after the 4 p.m. close. [4]
The industrial gases supplier moved in step with a broader materials bid as Wall Street “caught its breath” in thin post-Christmas trading, a Reuters report said. Materials was the strongest-performing sector among the S&P 500’s 11 groups. [5]
Why it matters now: with only a handful of sessions left in 2025, investors are looking for momentum to carry through the year-end “Santa Claus rally” window — a seasonal stretch that covers the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the next. The period runs through Jan. 5, Reuters reported. [6]
“We’re just simply catching our breath today after the holiday,” Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group, said. [7]
On Friday, the Dow slipped 0.04%, the S&P 500 fell 0.03% and the Nasdaq lost 0.09%, Reuters said. The indexes were still higher on the week. [8]
Industrial gases peers were mixed, with Air Products closing up 0.64% on Dec. 26, Wall Street Journal data showed. [9]
Linde supplies gases such as oxygen and nitrogen used across manufacturing, healthcare and electronics, leaving the stock sensitive to shifts in industrial activity but often less volatile than commodity-linked materials producers.
The stock traded between $423.41 and $426.00 on Dec. 26 and sits in a 52-week range of $387.78 to $486.38, according to MarketWatch. [10]
Before next session, investors will be watching whether year-end portfolio adjustments and light holiday volumes keep market moves choppy when U.S. trading resumes on Monday. Reuters has noted that thin volumes can exaggerate price swings. [11]
A key macro marker lands Tuesday (Dec. 30), when the Federal Reserve releases minutes from its December policy meeting — a detailed record investors comb for clues on the rate outlook. [12]
Markets are focused on the pace of future rate cuts after the Fed lowered its benchmark rate by 75 basis points over its last three meetings of 2025 to 3.50%–3.75%, Reuters reported. [13]
For Linde, the next major scheduled catalyst is its next quarterly report, which Nasdaq and Yahoo Finance list as an estimated Feb. 5 release date. [14]
Investors will be listening for updated demand and pricing commentary, after Linde’s last earnings release forecast fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $4.10 to $4.20 and full-year adjusted EPS of $16.35 to $16.45. [15]
Based on Friday’s close and MarketWatch’s 52-week range, Linde is about 12.7% below its 52-week high and about 9.5% above its 52-week low heading into the final week of the year. [16]
References
1. www.wsj.com, 2. www.reuters.com, 3. www.reuters.com, 4. www.wsj.com, 5. www.reuters.com, 6. www.reuters.com, 7. www.reuters.com, 8. www.reuters.com, 9. www.wsj.com, 10. www.marketwatch.com, 11. www.reuters.com, 12. www.reuters.com, 13. www.reuters.com, 14. www.nasdaq.com, 15. assets.linde.com, 16. www.marketwatch.com
