CNBC Daily Open: S&P 500 soared in 2024 despite a weak fourth quarter

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

End of year celebrations for markets
U.S. stocks ended the last trading day of 2024 on a negative note, but they finished the year higher. Asia-Pacific markets fell on Tuesday, which was a shortened trading day for many bourses. China's CSI 300 ended the year 15% higher, snapping its three-year losing streak, though its lost 1.6% on the day.

Bitcoin at $200,000 in 2024?
Bitcoin broke the $100,000 level in December 2024 after Donald Trump, largely seen as friendly to the cryptocurrency, won the U.S. elections. Industry executives and crypto investors see strong momentum for bitcoin, with several predicting that it will surge to $200,000 this year.

Nippon Steel offers U.S. veto power
The fate of Nippon Steel's planned acquisition of U.S. Steel rests with U.S. President Joe Biden, who has until Jan. 7 to decide. In an attempt to persuade Biden, Nippon Steel has offered to give the U.S. government veto power over any cuts to U.S. Steel's production capacity, reported Reuters, which cited a source familiar with the matter.

AI model price cut by Alibaba
Alibaba is slashing prices on its visual language model by up to 85%, the company announced Tuesday. The model, named Qwen-VL, is designed to understand both texts and images. Alibaba's move signals the growing competition between Chinese tech giants as they aim to gain market share for their artificial intelligence products.

[PRO] Top and bottom stocks of 2024
The Magnificent Seven basket of stocks have powered the S&P 500 forward for most of 2024. But