Markets were buoyed by a strong finish on Wall Street after a sharp holiday break

This is a report from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open provides investors with information on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.

Mega car merger
Nissan and Honda began formal merger discussionsthe two companies announced Monday. The negotiations will end in June 2025. Japan is included in the list Honda The stock was last up 13.4% on Tuesday and is on track to their best day since October 2008after the company announced plans to buy back 24% of its issued shares by December 23 next year.

Taiwan leads the Asian markets
As of Dec. 23, Taiwan’s Taiex Index is up 28.85%, making it the most efficient stock market in the Asia-Pacific region in 2024 Taiex’s focus on technology and technology-related stocks helped boost performance. A Taiwanese semiconductor company soared 82.12% in 2024 and Foxconn, which trades as Hon Hai Precision Industry — advanced 77.51%.

A positive start to the holidays
US markets rose on Monday amid a strong showing by major tech stocks. The New York Stock Exchange closes on Christmas Eve Tuesday. Asia-Pacific shares Tuesday’s trading is mixed. of Japan Nikkei 225 fell about 0.4%, even as Honda shares jumped. Meanwhile in Hong Kong Hang Seng Index rose by more than 1%.

UK GDP is out of order
The The UK economy has not grown in the three months ended September, according to revised Office for National Statistics data released on Monday. Preliminary estimates pegged gross domestic product in the third quarter at 0.1%. Earlier this month, ONS data showed that the UK economy had taken an unexpected hit down 0.1% in October.

(PRO) Buffett’s Biggest War Chest
Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway at the present time keeping $325 billion in cash — the largest amount he has accumulated in absolute terms. Cash now makes up about 30% of Berkshire’s total assets, the highest share in 34 years, according to Oppenheimer data. Buffett has sold large amounts of Apple and Bank of America shares this year. Why does the 94-year-old legendary investor keep so much money? Analysts weigh in.

US markets started the trading week in a festive mood. The S&P 500 scored 0.73% and Art Dow Jones industrial indexrecovering from earlier losses, rose 0.16%. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.98% amid strong performance from major technology companies such as Nvidia, Tesla and Metaplatforms.

However, bitcoin proxy shares Micro strategy fell 8.8% on its first day in the Nasdaq-100 index after the cryptocurrency fell below $93,000 on Monday.

Still, MicroStrategy is still among the best-performing U.S. technology companies valued at $5 billion or more, according to FactSet. Its shares have soared 426% this year, largely thanks to the company bitcoin stockwhich he started accumulating in 2020.

With Bitcoin surging after Donald Trump’s election victory, MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin holdings are now worth about $42 billion. That’s the basis for the company’s market cap to grow to $82 billion from about $1.1 billion since it began buying bitcoins in droves.

Investors looking to take advantage of MicroStrategy’s explosive growth should keep in mind that the company’s stock price is currently trading against the price of Bitcoin.

The flip side of this is that if, for whatever reason, bitcoin prices collapse — as volatile as the cryptocurrency is — MicroStrategy’s stock could collapse as well.

Trading is likely to be light this week. US markets will close early on Tuesday and take a break on Wednesday for Christmas.

But light trading does not mean small movements in the markets. “With the underlying uptrend in the market continuing, we don’t rule out Santa coming to Broad & Wall this year,” Craig Johnson, chief market strategist at Piper Sandler, said in a note.

While investors celebrate the holidays — and the S&P’s 25.25% year-to-date gain — they may find an extra gift under the tree.

— CNBC’s Yun Li, Mackenzie Sigalas and Ari Levy contributed to this report.

CNBC Daily Open will be on hiatus and will return next year. Happy holiday!