Economy

Wall Street closed the year in the red – crypto companies fell

Wall Street recorded broad declines during the last trading day of the year with the tech sector at the bottom. At closing, it looks like this:

• S&P500: -0.3%
• Nasdaq: −0.6%
• Dow Jones: −0.1%

The S&P 500 closed the books at 5881 on Tuesday evening, which means a lift for the full year of 23.2 percent. This is the second year in a row that the broad index has risen by more than 20 percent and if the returns for 2023 and 2024 are combined, it is the largest stock market rally since the late 90s, notes CNBC.

The Dow Jones and Nasdaq rose 12.9 and 28.6 percent respectively for the full year. The return was the best on the Dow Jones since 2021, writes Barron's.

On the corporate front, a number of crypto stocks traded down. Microstrategy fell around 4 percent and was followed by sector peers Mara, Riot and Coinbase, which fell 2–3 percent.

Verisign, which is focused on domain name systems and internet infrastructure, rose 1 percent after it became known that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway had increased its holding.

Electric car manufacturer Tesla fell 3 percent ahead of Thursday's interim report. This extended its share price decline for the fourth day in a row.

Thursday's loser Super Micro Computer fell just under 1 percent, while chip giant Nvidia lost 2 percent.

New York Stock exchanges Yesterday.
S&P500: −1.1%
Nasdaq: −1.2%
Dow Jones: –1.0%

The crypto market
Analyst: Bitcoin's loss is likely to be short-lived

The bitcoin rally slowed towards the end of the year and the cryptocurrency lost 3.2 percent in value in December. It was the first month of decline since August, writes Bloomberg.

Since December 19, the equivalent of around SEK 20 billion has flowed out of bitcoin ETFs, according to data compiled by the news agency. In addition, there is a decrease in interest from institutions.

But the coolness may be short-lived, Jonathan McDonald at QCP Capital believes.

“The broad acceptance of bitcoin is likely to increase allocation, strengthen the dominance of the cryptocurrency and stabilize price movements,” he writes in a market letter.

The Market for "Alternative Dollars" Over 200 Billion

The Market for "Stable Cryptocurrencies" Linked to the Dollar is Now Arising Increasing Interest, Bloomberg Reports.

In parallel with bitcoin's rise this year, the sector for so-called stable coins has grown sharply and is now valued at over $200 billion. In the financial market, Visa, Paypal and Stripe, among others, have started to get into the game.

- We have seen a significant increase in demand from some of the largest companies in the world, says Rob Haddick, a partner at the venture capital firm Dragonfly with a niche in digital assets.

Analysts have highlighted stable coins as a substitute for users in countries where, for example, the banking system is underdeveloped or where participation in the official economy is low.

Elon Musk's wealth
Musk moves to the top among the world's 500 richest

The world's 500 richest people passed a combined wealth of 10 trillion dollars in 2024, equivalent to 110,000 billion kronor. This is reported by Bloomberg.

The strong stock market rally, not least for American tech companies, is seen as a large part of the explanation.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk fared best, whose wealth more than doubled to 442 billion dollars, followed by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huan.

Musk thus overtakes the world's second richest person, Jeff Bezos, with a gap of 237 billion dollars.