Markets weakened by the holiday cheered Wall Street's strong close

This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, the international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open keeps investors informed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.

Huge car fusion
April and Honda I started Formal merger discussionsThe two companies announced on Monday. Negotiations will end in June 2025. Listed in Japan Honda Shares were last up 13.4% on Tuesday and are on track to decline Their best day since October 2008This is after the company announced plans to buy back 24% of its issued shares by December 23 of next year.

Taiwan leads Asian markets
As of December 23, Taiwan's Taiex Index was up 28.85%, making it the benchmark Best performing stock markets in the Asia Pacific region 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 77.51%.

A positive start to the holidays
American markets It rose on Monday Against the backdrop of a strong showing in large technology stocks. The New York Stock Exchange closes early Tuesday on Christmas Eve. Asia Pacific stocks It traded mixed on Tuesday. Japan Nikki 225 It 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 The UK economy failed to expand In the three months to September, according to revised figures from the Office for National Statistics, published on Monday. Previous estimates had pegged third-quarter GDP at 0.1%. Earlier this month, data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the UK economy had fallen unexpectedly Shrink by 0.1% In October.

(PRO) Buffett's largest war chest
Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway currently It has $325 billion in cash – The largest amount stored in absolute terms. Cash now makes up about 30% of Berkshire's total assets, the highest proportion in 34 years, according to data from Oppenheimer. Buffett sold large amounts of Apple and Bank of America shares this year. Why does the legendary 94-year-old investor keep so much money? Analysts weigh in.

US markets started the trading week amid holiday cheer. the Standard & Poor's 500 It rose by 0.73% and Dow Jones Industrial Averagerecovering from previous losses, rising by 0.16%. the Nasdaq Composite It added 0.98% on the back of strong performance from large technology companies such as Nvidia, Tesla and Meta platforms.

However, bitcoin proxy shares Accurate strategy It fell 8.8% on its first day on the Nasdaq-100, after the cryptocurrency's price fell below $93,000 on Monday.

However, MicroStrategy is still among the best-performing U.S. technology companies valued at $5 billion or more, according to FactSet data. Its shares are up 426% so far this year, thanks mostly to the company's stock Bitcoin stockwhich I started collecting in 2020.

With Bitcoin surging after Donald Trump's election victory, MicroStrategy's bitcoin holding is now worth around $42 billion. It's the basis for the company's market capitalization to have swelled to $82 billion from about $1.1 billion since it started buying bitcoin in bulk.

Investors looking to capitalize on MicroStrategy's meteoric rise should remember that the company's stock price is currently trading against the backdrop of Bitcoin prices.

The flip side of that is that if Bitcoin prices collapse for any reason — as volatile as the cryptocurrency is — MicroStrategy shares could falter as well.

Trading is likely to be thin this week. Markets in the US will close early Tuesday and take a break on Wednesday for Christmas.

But light trading does not mean small movements in the markets. “As initial bullish market trends continue, we are not giving up on the possibility of Santa Claus coming 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 is up 25.25% year-to-date — 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 be on hiatus and will return next year. Happy holidays!