Overnight US stocks | The Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen for five consecutive days, and Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) continues to hit new all-time highs, with its market value approaching $4 trillion.

After the holiday, the US stock market traded calmly, with some ups and downs in initial jobless claims numbers, unable to change the market's bet on the Fed's policy outlook. The S&P 500 index fell slightly, hovering around 6037 points. The Nasdaq 100 index fell 0.1%. Among the three major indexes, only the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Youdao Inc ADR Class A, rose, achieving five consecutive gains. Data compiled by Bespoke Investment Group shows that after the S&P 500 index achieved its best Christmas Eve performance since 1974, the stock market struggled to gain momentum. With the closing of major European markets, trading volume in the US stock market was far below the average level of last month. [US Stocks] The Dow Jones index closed up 28.77 points, or 0.07%, at 43325.80 points; the S&P 500 index closed down 2.45 points, or 0.04%, at 6037.59 points; the Nasdaq Composite index closed down 10.77 points, or 0.05%, at 20020.36 points. Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) closed up 0.3% to reach a new high market value of $3.92 trillion, Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US) closed down 1.7%, and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR (HMC.US) rose 4%. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index closed up 0.4%. [European Stocks] Major European stocks are closed for the day. [Asia-Pacific Stocks] The Nikkei 225 index rose 1.12%, while the South Korea KOSPI index fell 0.60%. [Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin fell by 3%, to $95,456.95. Ethereum fell by 4.1%, to $3,324.56. [Gold] COMEX gold futures rose 0.71% to $2,654.3 per ounce at the close. Spot gold rose 0.67% at the close to $2,634.39 per ounce. [Crude Oil] International crude oil futures settled slightly lower. WTI February crude oil futures closed down $0.48, or 0.68%, at $69.62 per barrel. Brent February crude oil futures closed down $0.32, or 0.43%, at $73.26 per barrel. [Metals] London Metals Exchange is closed. [Forex] At the close in New York, the US dollar index remained flat at 108.09, with non-US currencies showing mixed movements. The euro rose 0.15% against the US dollar to 1.0423, the pound fell 0.24% against the US dollar to 1.2527, the Australian dollar fell 0.29% against the US dollar to 0.6221, the US dollar rose 0.5% against the yen to 158.01, and the US dollar fell 0.19% against the Swiss franc to 0.8988. [Macro News] Initial jobless claims in the US decreased, avoiding a massive wave of layoffs. Last week, the number of initial jobless claims in the US decreased slightly, indicating that in the final stages of 2024, the US economy is still avoiding a large-scale wave of layoffs. The US Department of Labor announced on Thursday that in the week ending December 21, 219,000 people applied for new unemployment benefits, slightly lower than the previous week's 220,000, and market expectations of 225,000. The US unemployment rate is currently 4.2%, which is still relatively moderate by the standards of the past decade. However, during 2024, the unemployment rate slightly increased, indicating a softening labor market, reflected in a decrease in job vacancies per job seeker, a decrease in the number of new job openings, and more industries cutting back on hiring. In addition, continued claims for unemployment benefits rose to 1.91 million, reaching the highest level in three years. US holiday season retail sales rose 3.8%, with strong demand for e-commerce apparel. According to a preliminary report from MasterCard SpendingPulse, from November 1 to December 24, US retail sales (excluding automobiles) increased by 3.8% year-on-year. It is worth noting that the last five days of the holiday season accounted for 10% of all holiday spending. The significant increase of 3.8% is mainly due to retailers heavily promoting discounts in the expected competitive holiday season, effectively stimulating consumer shopping enthusiasm and encouraging them to make large purchases on the eve of the holidays. Compared to the 3.1% increase in the same period last year, this year's sales growth is more robust and far exceeds MasterCard's forecast of a 3.2% increase in September. During this period, major retailers including Walmart Inc. (WMT.US), Target Corporation (TGT.US), and Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN.US), increased their promotional efforts to attract customers and focused more on conveying value information. These large retailers successfully attracted a large number of consumers to shop during the holiday season by increasing promotions and emphasizing value for money. [Stock News] OpenAI seeks to transition to a for-profit company, with Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) setting obstacles, negotiations focus on four key points. According to reports, OpenAI CEO IAT Automobile Technology wants to transition this artificial intelligence development company managed by a non-profit organization to a for-profit entity, with Microsoft Corporation posing the biggest obstacle. The company's involvement in this process is significant, as it has committed to investing over $13 billion in OpenAI. Since October last year, the two companies have been negotiating potential changes in OpenAI's structure, with discussions primarily focusing on four areas: Microsoft Corporation's equity stake in the for-profit entity; whether Microsoft Corporation will continue to be the exclusive cloud service provider for OpenAI; how long Microsoft Corporation will retain the right to use OpenAI's intellectual property to meet its product needs; and whether Microsoft Corporation will continue to extract 20% of revenue from OpenAI.According to sources familiar with discussions between OpenAI and IAT Automobile Technology, it is currently unclear when OpenAI and Microsoft Corporation plan to complete this process, but both parties are moving quickly and under time pressure: if OpenAI fails to complete the transformation within the next two years, recent investors may retract their funds, along with 9% interest - totaling about $7.2 billion. Company leadership has informed employees that OpenAI hopes to buy back some of their stocks after the profit transformation, so employees currently have a strong incentive to complete this transformation as soon as possible.Analyst: Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) is expected to reach a market value of $4 trillion. Wedbush analysts stated in a research report that Apple Inc. will enter a growth golden age in 2025, driven by a multi-year iPhone upgrade cycle powered by artificial intelligence, which Wall Street has not fully recognized yet. Analysts say that the seeds of Apple Inc.'s "Apple Inc. Intelligence" strategy are forming, which will change its consumer growth trend in the coming years. They estimate that the hundreds of applications being developed around "Apple Inc. Intelligence" should generate billions of dollars in revenue from services each year. Analysts believe that Apple Inc. could reach a market value of $4 trillion and become the first member of this exclusive club. They have raised their target stock price to $325. Alibaba Group Holding Limited Sponsored ADR (BABA.US) has agreed to merge its Korean business with E-Mart's e-commerce platform. Alibaba Group Holding Limited Sponsored ADR plans to merge its Korean business with the e-commerce platform Gmarket owned by the Korean retail company E-Mart, in order to strengthen its position in the fiercely competitive online retail market in Korea. According to documents submitted by E-Mart to the Korean stock exchange, the global Korean business of AliExpress and the e-commerce Gmarket under E-Mart will form a joint venture, with each holding 50% of the shares. The valuation of this new joint venture is estimated to be around $4 billion. MicroStrategy (MSTR.US) plans to issue more shares to purchase Bitcoin. In a filing submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission this Monday, MicroStrategy hopes to increase the authorized number of Class A common stock and preferred stock to raise more funds to buy Bitcoin. Since announcing plans to raise $2.1 billion through the issuance of shares and bonds at the end of October last year, MicroStrategy has been actively acquiring Bitcoin. So far, MicroStrategy has issued approximately $13 billion in shares and $3 billion in convertible bonds under this plan, and has used all of these funds to purchase Bitcoin. Currently, MicroStrategy has become the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin in the world, holding about 439,000 Bitcoins with a market value of about $43 billion, representing over 2% of the total Bitcoin supply globally. It is worth noting that the future issuance of shares by MicroStrategy may further dilute the ownership stake of existing shareholders. Currently, the company has issued approximately 223 million Class A common shares, and the fully diluted shares post-issuance are approximately 260 million shares. If this issuance plan is successfully implemented, the number of outstanding shares of MicroStrategy next year may approach its authorized upper limit of 330 million shares.