A television broadcaster broadcasts Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, USA, on Wednesday, December 18, 2024.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
This report comes from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open tells investors everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Do you like what you see? You can log in Here.
What you need to know today
Mega automobile merger
Nissan And Honda have begun Official merger talksthe two companies announced on Monday. The combined group has the potential to achieve sales of 30 trillion yen ($191.4 billion) and operating profit of more than 3 trillion yen, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said. Honda shares rose 12.7% after Mibe’s press conference.
Taiwan is at the top of the Asian markets
As of December 23, Taiwan’s Taiex had gained 28.85%, making it the top performer 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 rose 82.12% in 2024, and Foxconn – which trades as Hon Hai precision industry – advanced by 77.51%.
Positive start to the holidays
US markets rose on Monday against the backdrop of strong performance from major technology stocks. The New York Stock Exchange closes early Tuesday on Christmas Eve. Europe regionally Stoxx 600 index added 0.14%. Shares of Volkswagen fell 2% as the automaker reached a act with striking workers on Friday who plan to cut 35,000 jobs by 2030.
The UK GDP is not right
The The British economy was unable to expand in the three months to September, according to the Office for National Statistics’ revised figure released on Monday. Previous estimates had put gross domestic product at 0.1% in the third quarter. Earlier this month, data from the ONS showed that the UK economy had unexpectedly recovered shrank by 0.1% in October.
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The end result
US markets started the trading week in a holiday mood. The S&P 500 increased by 0.73% and the Dow Jones Industrial Averagerecovering from earlier losses, rose 0.16%. The Nasdaq Composite rose due to the strong performance of major technology companies such as B. by 0.98% Nvidia, Tesla And Metaplatforms.
However, shares of Bitcoin proxy Microstrategy fell 8.8% in its first day on the Nasdaq 100 index after the price of the cryptocurrency fell below $93,000 on Monday.
Still, MicroStrategy is still among the top-performing U.S. tech companies valued at $5 billion or more, according to FactSet data. Its shares are up 426% so far this year, thanks largely to the company Stock of Bitcoinsthe accumulation of which began in 2020.
With the Bitcoin rally following Donald Trump’s election victory, MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin holdings are now worth around $42 billion. This is the basis for the company’s market capitalization to grow to $82 billion from about $1.1 billion since mass Bitcoin purchases began.
Investors looking to profit from MicroStrategy’s explosive rise should keep in mind that the company’s stock price is currently dependent on Bitcoin prices.
The downside to this is that if the Bitcoin price collapses for any reason – as volatile as cryptocurrencies can be – MicroStrategy shares could also stumble.
Trading is likely to be thin this week. Markets in the US will close earlier on Tuesday and take a break on Wednesday for Christmas Day.
But light trading does not mean that markets move only slightly. “With the market’s primary uptrends still intact, we are not giving up on the potential for a Santa Claus to come to Broad & Wall this year,” Craig Johnson, chief market technician at Piper Sandler, said in a note.
As investors celebrate the festivities — and the S&P’s 25.25% year-to-date rise — they may find an additional gift under the tree.
— CNBC’s Yun Li, MacKenzie Sigalos and Ari Levy contributed to this report.
CNBC Daily Open will take a break and return next year. Happy Holidays!
