A television station broadcasts Jerome Powell, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, US, on Wednesday, December 18, 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 started official merger discussionsthe two companies announced on Monday. The merged group has the potential to generate revenue of 30 trillion yen ($191.4 billion) and operating profits of more than 3 trillion yen, Honda Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe said. Honda shares rose 12.7% after Mibe’s press conference.
Taiwan leads Asian markets
As of December 23, Taiwan’s Taiex had gained 28.85%, becoming the Best performing stock market in Asia-Pacific in 2024. Taiex’s focus on technology and technology-related stocks helped boost its 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 got up on monday thanks to the good performance of large technology stocks. The New York Stock Exchange closes early on Tuesday for Christmas Eve. European regional Stoxx 600 index added 0.14%. Volkswagen shares lost 2% as the automaker hit a deal with workers striking on Friday, which means cutting 35,000 jobs by 2030.
UK GDP is not doing well
He The UK economy failed to expand in the three months to the end of September, according to the revised figure 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 0.1% in October.
(PRO) Stocks with room to grow in 2025
He S&P 500 has enjoyed two consecutive years in which it has gained more than 20%. And there are still stocks with plenty of room to grow in 2025. CNBC Pro used your stock screener tooly found companies that have at least 30% potential increase in 2025based on Wall Street consensus price targets.
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. technology companies valued at $5 billion or more, according to FactSet data. Its shares have soared 426% so far this year, mainly thanks to the bitcoin reservewhich began to accumulate 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 (no matter how volatile the cryptocurrency may 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!
