Zhiyuan Financial learned that the US stock market closed lower on the last trading day of 2024. As major central banks began a rate cut cycle, the main theme of AI persisted throughout the year, and expectations for policies in the Trump 2.0 era simmered, the three major stock indexes rose for the second consecutive year, with the Dow Jones gaining a total of 12.9% for the year, the S&P 500 Index soaring 23.3%, marking the strongest back-to-back annual gains since the tech bubble burst before 1997-1998; the Nasdaq surged 28.6%; and throughout the year, reached historical highs multiple times. Additionally, the E-mini Russell 2000 Index gained a total of 10.0%. The AI boom propelled Technology stocks to continue advancing, with the "Seven Giants" collectively reaching new highs this year, among them, Apple (AAPL.US) up 30.7% and NVIDIA (NVDA.US) soaring 171.3%.

[US Stocks] As of the close, the Dow fell 29.51 points, a decline of 0.07%, closing at 42,544.22 points; the Nasdaq dropped 175.99 points, down 0.90%, at 19,310.79 points; the S&P 500 Index decreased by 25.31 points, down 0.43%, at 5,881.63 points. United States Steel (X.US) rose against the trend, up 9.6%, while Faraday Future (FFIE.US) fell 22.6%. Growth Tech stocks declined, with NVIDIA (NVDA.US) down 2.3%, Tesla (TSLA.US) down 3.3%, and Apple (AAPL.US) down 0.7%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index slightly rose by 0.4%.

The UK FTSE100 Index rose by 0.64%; the France CAC40 Index increased by 0.92%; the Europe STOXX50 Index fell by 0.06%.

In the crypto market, Bitcoin showed little volatility, priced at 93,339 USD; Ethereum fell by 0.94%, priced at 3,327 USD. The total market capitalization of Cryptos in 2024 approached a peak of 4 trillion USD, with Bitcoin's price increasing by 121%. Factors such as Bitcoin "halving", the approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs in the USA, and Trump's victory drove the market cap of Cryptos to soar, with data from Coingecko showing that the total market cap increased from about 1.6 trillion USD at the beginning of the year to nearly 4 trillion USD at its peak. Among them, Bitcoin's price rose by 120.88% throughout the year, breaking through 80,000, 90,000, and 100,000 USD within a month after Trump's victory, and then gradually retreated after reaching a peak of 108,353 USD, currently hovering around 93,700 USD. Ethereum rose by 45.6% throughout the year.

On Tuesday, the price of spot Gold rose by 3.03 USD, an increase of 0.12%, closing at 2,608.65 USD per ounce. Gold achieved its best annual performance since 2010, with international gold prices rising approximately 27% this year, from about 2,000 USD per ounce at the beginning of the year to the current approximate 2,629 USD. Analysts expect that the factors supporting gold prices in 2024 will continue into 2025, but they also mentioned potential resistance from Trump's policies that could stimulate inflation and slow the Fed's rate cut pace.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures for February delivery rose by 73 cents, an increase of 1.03%, closing at 71.72 USD per barrel. Brent crude oil futures for delivery in March 2025 rose by 65 cents, closing at 74.64 USD per barrel, an increase of 0.88%.

[Macroeconomic News]

On the last day of 2024, the Federal Reserve's reverse repo mechanism attracted an inflow of $473.5 billion, the largest scale since early summer. A large amount of Cash flowed into the Federal Reserve's reverse repo tool on Tuesday, the last trading day of 2024, pushing the usage of this tool to its highest level since early summer. Money Market Funds and other eligible Institutions parked $473.5 billion on the Fed's books. This increase in usage is not surprising, as there are often significant adjustments made at the end of the quarter and year as companies manage their balance sheets, leading to large Inflows into the Fed. Tuesday's Cash inflow was the highest level since $664.6 billion flowed in on the last trading day of the second quarter, and it also exceeded the $465.6 billion recorded at the end of the third quarter on September 30.

Under the leadership of Musk, Zuckerberg, and Huang Renxun, the total wealth of the Global 500 billionaires in 2024 surpassed $10 trillion. Thanks to the unstoppable rise of US Growth Tech stocks, Musk, Zuckerberg, and Huang Renxun have helped propel the total net worth of the world's richest 500 individuals to a new milestone: a net worth of $10 trillion. This wealth growth has also benefited Larry Ellison, Bezos, Michael Dell, and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, with these eight tech giants increasing their assets by more than $600 billion in 2024. Dominating the 2024 Global Billionaires List is Musk, often referred to as Trump's 'first buddy,' whose close relationship with Trump has spurred the valuation of his companies to unprecedented heights, boosting his wealth to $442.1 billion, an increase of $213 billion since the beginning of the year.

In October, US oil production hit a new historical high. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Tuesday that due to a surge in demand to the highest level since the pandemic, US oil production in October increased by 0.26 million barrels per day month-on-month, reaching a record 13.46 million barrels per day. According to Reuters calculations, in October, US oil production increased by 2.3% year on year, and the previous monthly record for US oil production was 13.36 million barrels per day in August. The supply of Crude Oil Product and petroleum (how the EIA measures demand) increased by approximately 0.7 million barrels per day in October, reaching 21.01 million barrels per day, the highest since August 2019. The demand for distillates (including diesel and heating oil) rose by 0.347 million barrels per day in October, reaching 4.06 million barrels per day, the highest in a year.

[Individual Stock News]

Nippon Steel proposed a new plan, suggesting that the US government should have veto power over capacity reductions at United States Steel (X.US). According to foreign media, a document sent to the White House on Monday indicated that Nippon Steel proposed granting the US government veto power over any capacity cuts at United States Steel as a last-ditch effort to secure President Biden's approval for the acquisition of United States Steel. The proposal aims to assuage concerns from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) regarding potential risks to US National Security that the acquisition may pose. Two government officials and one industry executive stated that as the White House review continues, government officials are contemplating a method of leaving the final decision to the incoming Trump administration. Biden faces a January 7th deadline to make a final decision, and the official indicated that Biden may approve the acquisition if a series of additional conditions are met, such as maintaining US job opportunities. Under the new proposal, Nippon Steel offers a 10-year guarantee not to reduce capacity at United States Steel's plants in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Alabama, Texas, California, and Arkansas without approval from a review panel led by the Treasury Department. In addition to its current commitments, Nippon Steel would also need to make additional investments of 'billions of dollars.'

Tesla (TSLA.US) recalls some imported and domestically produced electric vehicles in China. Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and Tesla Motors (Peking) Co., Ltd. are recalling a total of 77,650 units of domestically produced Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles with production dates from September 28, 2021, to November 22, 2024, in accordance with the requirements of the Regulations on the Recall Management of Defective Automotive Products and the Implementation Measures of the Regulations on the Recall Management of Defective Automotive Products. Starting from now, 63 units of imported Model S and Model X electric vehicles produced between November 20, 2024, and November 26, 2024, are also being recalled.

[Major Banks Rating]

UBS Group: Assigns Netflix (NFLX.US) a "Buy" rating and a target price of $1,040, stating that now is the time to raise subscription prices.

UBS Group: Raises the target price for Vipshop (VIPS.US) from $12.5 to $15, maintaining a "Hold" rating.