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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on December 9, 2024.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | fake images
This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Do you like what you see? You can subscribe here.
What you need to know today
Automotive mega fusion
nissan and sling have begun official merger talks, the two companies announced Monday. Negotiations will end in June 2025. Listed in Japan sling The stock was last up 13.4% on Tuesday and was on track for its best day since October 2008, after the company announced plans to buy back 24% of its issued shares by Dec. 23 next year.
Taiwan leads Asian markets
As of December 23, Taiwan’s Taiex had gained 28.85%, making it the best-performing stock market in Asia-Pacific in 2024. Taiex’s focus on technology and technology-related stocks helped enhance your performance. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company soared 82.12% in 2024, and Foxconn, which is listed as Hon Hai Precision Industry — advanced 77.51%.
Positive start to vacation
US markets rose on Monday thanks to the strong performance of big technology stocks. The New York Stock Exchange closes early on Tuesday for Christmas Eve. Asia-Pacific stocks traded mixed on Tuesday. Japan Nikkei 225 fell about 0.4% even as Honda shares rose. Meanwhile, Hong Kong Hang Seng Index rose more than 1%.
UK GDP is not doing well
The UK economy failed to expand in the three months to the end of September, according to revised figures from the Office for National Statistics, published on Monday. Previous estimates had pegged third-quarter gross domestic product at 0.1%. Earlier this month, ONS data showed that the UK economy had unexpectedly contracted by 0.1% in October.
(PRO) Buffett’s biggest war chest
Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway It currently holds $325 billion in cash, the largest amount hoarded in absolute terms. Cash now represents about 30% of Berkshire’s total assets, the highest proportion in 34 years, according to Oppenheimer data. Buffett sold large amounts of Apple and Bank of America shares this year. Why does the legendary 94-year-old investor hold on to so much cash? Analysts give their opinion.
The final result
US markets began the trading week with Christmas cheer. He S&P 500 gained 0.73% and the Dow Jones Industrial Averagerecovering from earlier losses, it rose 0.16%. He Nasdaq Composite added 0.98% thanks to the solid performance of large technology companies such as NVIDIA, tesla and Metaplatforms.
However, proxy bitcoin stocks Microstrategy fell 8.8% on its first day on the Nasdaq-100 index, after the cryptocurrency’s price fell below $93,000 on Monday.
That said, MicroStrategy remains among the best-performing U.S. tech companies valued at $5 billion or more, according to FactSet data. Its shares have soared 426% so far this year, mainly thanks to the company’s bitcoin reserves, which it began accumulating in 2020.
With bitcoin’s rally following Donald Trump’s election victory, MicroStrategy’s bitcoin holdings are now worth around $42 billion. It is the basis for the company’s market capitalization to skyrocket to $82 billion from about $1.1 billion since the time it began buying bitcoin wholesale.
Investors who want to take advantage of MicroStrategy’s explosive rise should remember that the company’s share price is currently trading thanks to bitcoin prices.
The flip side is that if bitcoin prices crash for any reason (as volatile as cryptocurrencies can be), MicroStrategy stock may stumble as well.
Trading is likely to be light this week. Markets in the US will close early on Tuesday and take a break on Wednesday for Christmas Day.
But light trading does not mean small movements in the markets. “With the market’s major bullish trends still intact, we’re not giving up on the possibility of a Santa Claus coming to Broad & Wall this year,” Craig Johnson, chief market technician at Piper Sandler, said in a note.
As investors celebrate the holidays (and the S&P’s 25.25% gain so far this year), they may find an extra gift under the tree.
—CNBC’s Yun Li, MacKenzie Sigalos and Ari Levy contributed to this report.
CNBC Daily Open will go on hiatus and return next year. Happy holidays!
