NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 12:47 ET — Regular session
- Merck was down 0.1% midday, holding up better than the broader market.
- Traders pointed to holiday-thinned volumes ahead of Fed minutes due Tuesday.
- Investors are looking to Merck’s Feb. 3 earnings call for 2026 guidance and pipeline updates.
Merck & Co (MRK.N) shares were down 0.1% at $106.68 in midday trading on Monday, showing relative resilience as U.S. stocks drifted lower in thin year-end trade. The S&P 500-linked SPDR ETF (SPY) fell 0.6% and the Nasdaq-100 tracker (QQQ) slid 0.7%.
The muted move matters because the market is entering a holiday-shortened stretch where lighter volumes can amplify day-to-day swings, even without fresh company news. Traders are also positioning for a cluster of late-December data and central bank signals that could shape early-2026 risk appetite.
On Monday, a surprise jump in U.S. pending home sales added to the debate over how quickly borrowing costs can ease in 2026. Pending home sales rose 3.3% in November to the highest level since February 2023, the National Association of Realtors said, beating a 1.0% forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.
“It’s a very light trading week ahead; volume is low,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, noting that some investors are also doing tax-loss harvesting — selling losers to offset taxable gains. Reuters
Health care stocks were slightly softer, with the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) down 0.2%. Among Merck’s large-cap peers, Johnson & Johnson rose 0.3%, Pfizer fell 0.4% and Eli Lilly gained 0.6%.
Merck has not posted a new headline catalyst in recent days, leaving investors to trade the stock largely as a defensive heavyweight while digesting December regulatory and clinical updates. On its investor relations site, the company has highlighted a December 19 policy-focused agreement with the U.S. government and a December 17 oncology trial readout among its most recent updates.
On December 17, Merck said a Phase 3 trial showed its cancer immunotherapy Keytruda, combined with Padcev, improved outcomes versus chemotherapy for cisplatin-eligible muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients when given before and after surgery. Padcev is an antibody-drug conjugate — a targeted therapy that uses an antibody to deliver a potent drug to cancer cells — and the study was conducted with partners Pfizer and Astellas, Merck said.
Merck also has investors watching its experimental cholesterol pill enlicitide decanoate and a cancer therapy called sac-TMT after the U.S. FDA granted the drugs national priority review vouchers this month. The vouchers can shorten review timelines to roughly 1–2 months from the typical 10–12 months, Reuters reported.
Policy risk has been another theme for big drugmakers. Merck said on December 19 it reached an agreement with the Trump administration that includes plans to sell its diabetes drugs Januvia, Janumet and Janumet XR directly to eligible U.S. patients at a cash price “approximately 70%” below list price, and to add enlicitide to the program if approved. Merck.com+1
Beyond oncology, Merck has flagged an early-2026 regulatory milestone for Winrevair (sotatercept), its pulmonary arterial hypertension therapy. Merck said the European Medicines Agency’s CHMP — an advisory committee — recommended an expanded EU indication, with a final European Commission decision expected in the first quarter of 2026.
The next near-term market test comes Tuesday, when the Federal Reserve is expected to publish minutes from its December policy meeting, a record that can clarify how officials are thinking about rates in 2026. Markets will also remain focused on year-end flows heading into New Year’s Day, when U.S. markets are closed.
For Merck investors, attention is likely to shift back to fundamentals as the company approaches its Q4 2025 earnings call on Feb. 3 at 9 a.m. ET, when investors will look for guidance on 2026 growth drivers and pipeline timing. Merck traded between $106.44 and $107.56 on Monday, reflecting the tighter, headline-driven tape of late December.
