Overnight U.S. Stocks | Dow Jones rises for five consecutive days, Apple continues to hit new highs with market value approaching $4 trillion

According to Zhitong Finance, the U.S. stock market fluctuated in quiet trading after the holiday, as initial jobless claims showed mixed results, failing to change the market's bets on the Federal Reserve's policy outlook. The S&P 500 index slightly fell, hovering around 6037 points. The Nasdaq 100 index dropped 0.1%. Among the three major indices, only the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose, achieving a five-day winning streak.

Data compiled by Bespoke Investment Group shows that after the S&P 500 index recorded its best Christmas Eve performance since 1974, the stock market struggled to gain momentum. With major European markets closing, the trading volume in the U.S. stock market was far below last month's average level.

【U.S. Stocks】 The Dow Jones index closed up 28.77 points, an increase of 0.07%, at 43325.80 points; the S&P 500 index closed down 2.45 points, a decrease of 0.04%, at 6037.59 points; the Nasdaq Composite index closed down 10.77 points, a decrease of 0.05%, at 20020.36 points. Apple (AAPL.US) rose 0.3% to a new high—market capitalization reached $3.92 trillion, Tesla (TSLA.US) fell 1.7%, and Honda Motor (HMC.US) rose 4%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index rose 0.4%.

【European Stocks】 Major European stocks were closed.

【Asia-Pacific Stock Markets】 The Nikkei 225 index rose 1.12%, while the South Korean KOSPI index fell 0.60%.

【Cryptocurrency】 Bitcoin fell 3%, trading at $95,456.95. Ethereum fell 4.1%, trading at $3,324.56.

【Gold】 COMEX gold futures rose 0.71% at the close, trading at $2,654.3 per ounce. Spot gold rose 0.67% in the intraday close, trading at $2,634.39 per ounce.

【Crude Oil】 International crude oil futures settled slightly lower. WTI February crude oil futures fell $0.48, a decrease of 0.68%, settling at $69.62 per barrel. Brent February crude oil futures fell $0.32, a decrease of 0.43%, settling at $73.26 per barrel.

【Metals】 The London Metal Exchange was closed.

【Foreign Exchange】 At the New York close, the U.S. dollar index was flat at 108.09, with mixed movements in non-U.S. currencies. The euro rose 0.15% against the dollar to 1.0423, the British pound fell 0.24% against the dollar to 1.2527, the Australian dollar fell 0.29% against the dollar to 0.6221, the dollar rose 0.5% against the yen to 158.01, and the dollar fell 0.19% against the Swiss franc to 0.8988.

【Macroeconomic News】

Initial jobless claims in the U.S. decreased, as the economy temporarily avoids a wave of large-scale layoffs. Last week, the number of initial jobless claims in the U.S. decreased, indicating that the U.S. economy is still avoiding a wave of large-scale layoffs in the final stages of 2024. The U.S. Department of Labor stated on Thursday that 219,000 people applied for new unemployment benefits in the week ending December 21, down from 220,000 the previous week, with market expectations at 225,000. The current unemployment rate in the U.S. is 4.2%, which is still considered quite moderate by the standards of the past decade However, during 2024, the unemployment rate has slightly increased, which is a sign of a softening labor market, reflected in the decrease in job vacancies per job seeker, the decline in the number of new jobs, and more industries cutting back on hiring. Additionally, the number of people continuing to claim unemployment benefits rose to 1.91 million, the highest level in three years.

U.S. holiday season retail sales rose 3.8%, strong demand for e-commerce apparel. According to Mastercard SpendingPulse's preliminary report, from November 1 to December 24, U.S. retail sales (excluding automobiles) increased by 3.8% year-on-year. Notably, the last five days of the holiday season accounted for 10% of all holiday spending. This significant increase of 3.8% is mainly attributed to retailers heavily promoting during the anticipated competitive holiday season, effectively stimulating consumer shopping enthusiasm and prompting them to make substantial purchases before the holidays. Compared to last year's increase of 3.1%, this year's sales growth is stronger and far exceeds Mastercard's September forecast of a 3.2% increase. During this period, major retailers including Walmart (WMT.US), Target (TGT.US), and Amazon (AMZN.US) intensified their promotional efforts to attract customers and placed greater emphasis on conveying value messages. These large retail companies successfully attracted a large number of consumers to shop during the holiday season by increasing promotions and emphasizing cost-effectiveness.

【Individual Stock News】

OpenAI aims to transition to a for-profit company, Microsoft (MSFT.US) sets obstacles, negotiations focus on four key points. According to reports, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wants to transform this non-profit managed artificial intelligence development company into a for-profit entity, and the biggest obstacle he faces is Microsoft. The company has significant influence in this process, having committed over $13 billion to OpenAI. Since last October, the two companies have been negotiating potential changes to OpenAI's structure, focusing on four main areas: Microsoft's equity in the for-profit entity; whether Microsoft will continue as OpenAI's exclusive cloud service provider; how long Microsoft will maintain the right to use OpenAI's intellectual property to meet its product needs; and whether Microsoft will continue to extract 20% from OpenAI's revenue. This information comes from informed sources who have discussed these matters with Altman. It is currently unclear when OpenAI and Microsoft plan to complete this process, but both sides are moving quickly and facing time pressure: if OpenAI fails to complete the transition within the next two years, recently funded investors can reclaim their funds along with 9% interest—totaling about $7.2 billion. Company leadership has informed employees that OpenAI hopes to repurchase some of their shares after the transition to profitability, giving employees ample reason to hope for a swift completion of this transformation.

Analysts: Apple (AAPL.US) is expected to reach a market value of $4 trillion. Wedbush analysts stated in a research report that Apple will enter a golden age of growth by 2025, driven by a multi-year iPhone upgrade cycle powered by artificial intelligence, which Wall Street has yet to fully recognize Analysts say that the seeds of Apple's "Apple Smart" strategy are taking shape, which will change its consumer growth trajectory in the coming years. They estimate that the hundreds of applications being developed around "Apple Smart" should generate billions of dollars in revenue streams from services each year. Analysts believe that Apple is expected to reach a market value of $4 trillion, "becoming the first member of this exclusive club." They have raised the target stock price to $325.

Alibaba (BABA.US) has agreed to merge its South Korean business with E-Mart's e-commerce platform. According to reports, Alibaba plans to merge its South Korean business with the e-commerce platform Gmarket under the local retail company E-Mart to strengthen its position in South Korea's competitive online retail sector. According to documents submitted by E-Mart to the Korean Exchange, AliExpress's global South Korean business and E-Mart's e-commerce Gmarket will form a joint venture, with both parties holding 50% stakes. Reports suggest that the valuation of this new joint venture could reach approximately $4 billion.

Microstrategy (MSTR.US) plans to issue more shares to purchase Bitcoin. In documents submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, Microstrategy seeks to increase the authorized number of Class A common stock and preferred stock to raise more funds for purchasing Bitcoin. Since announcing plans to raise $21 billion through the issuance of stocks and bonds at the end of October last year, Microstrategy has begun an aggressive Bitcoin acquisition campaign. So far, Microstrategy has issued approximately $13 billion in stock and $3 billion in convertible bonds under this plan, using all these funds to purchase Bitcoin. Currently, Microstrategy has become the world's largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, holding approximately 439,000 Bitcoins, valued at about $43 billion, accounting for more than 2% of the total Bitcoin supply globally. Notably, Microstrategy's future stock issuance may further dilute the holdings of existing shareholders. Currently, the company has issued about 223 million shares of Class A common stock, with fully diluted shares totaling about 260 million. If this issuance plan is successfully implemented, the number of Microstrategy's outstanding shares next year could approach its authorized limit of 330 million shares