MercadoLibre stock closes higher as year-end trading thins; Fed minutes keep rates in focus

MercadoLibre stock closes higher as year-end trading thins; Fed minutes keep rates in focus

NEW YORK, December 30, 2025, 20:48 ET — Market closed

  • MercadoLibre shares ended modestly higher in holiday-thin trading.
  • Investors stayed focused on the U.S. rate path after the latest Federal Reserve minutes.
  • Traders are lining up the next catalysts: macro data on Dec. 31 and MercadoLibre’s next earnings update.

MercadoLibre Inc (MELI) shares closed up 0.3% at $2,020.88 on Tuesday, after trading between $1,997.46 and $2,028.95. Volume was about 294,000 shares.

The muted move mattered because liquidity has been thin into the year-end, and small shifts in rate expectations can swing the prices of higher-growth stocks. Investors often adjust what they are willing to pay for future earnings when interest rates move.

That rate sensitivity stayed front and center after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s Dec. 9-10 meeting showed officials divided on how much more to cut in 2026. The minutes described the decision to lower rates by a quarter-point, or 25 basis points (one basis point is 0.01 percentage point), as “finely balanced,” and the Fed’s next meeting is Jan. 27-28, with investors expecting no change. 1

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 slipped 0.14% and the Nasdaq fell 0.23% in choppy, holiday-thin trading, as declines in technology and financials offset gains elsewhere. “It’s just a healthy rebalancing of allocations more so than an emotionally driven sell-off,” said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide. 2

Other e-commerce names finished mixed. Amazon edged higher, while Shopify and Sea fell and eBay dipped.

MercadoLibre runs an online marketplace and the Mercado Pago payments arm across Latin America, tying results to consumer spending, digital payments activity and credit trends across the region. Its U.S.-listed shares can also move with broader shifts in risk appetite. 3

Currency swings remained on traders’ screens. The dollar index rose 0.19% to 98.19, and markets were pricing in about 50 basis points of rate cuts next year, even as the dollar was still down roughly 9.5% for 2025. 4

Before the next session:

U.S. stock markets are scheduled to trade regular hours on Wednesday, Dec. 31, before closing for New Year’s Day on Thursday. On Wednesday’s calendar, investors are set to get initial jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET and the S&P Case-Shiller home price index at 9:00 a.m. ET. 5

For MercadoLibre, the next major company update is its fourth-quarter results, listed as a provisional date of Feb. 24 on the company’s investor relations calendar. Investors will be watching for commentary on commerce and payments growth, credit costs at Mercado Pago, and the pace of logistics and marketing spending going into 2026. 6

On the chart, traders have been watching the round $2,000 level after the stock hovered near it over the past two sessions. A break with heavier volume would likely draw more technically driven flows in a market still dominated by positioning into year-end.

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