Investors eyeing up firms with the potential to become the “blue chip companies of the future” should look to India, according to GIB Asset Management’s Kunal Desai.

The portfolio manager said India’s geopolitical positioning is “favorable in this Trump 2.0 era” as investors assess the country’s ability to take advantage of a possible trade war between China and the U.S.

President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to impose big tariffs on goods from China when he takes office. Tariffs on goods imported from China into the U.S. will likely benefit India, analysts say, as companies shift manufacturing to the South Asian nation to avoid duties.

Speaking to CNBC’s Silvia Amaro, Desai described India as “probably one of the most attractive, secular and scalable investment opportunities globally.”

As well as geopolitics, Desai cited the country’s monetary sovereignty, improving return on equity — a key measure of a company’s profitability — and increased private investment as reasons to invest.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” initiative has also been cited by analysts as a major boon for some Indian manufacturing companies.

For Desai, “one of the most attractive areas is cables, power cables and wires, which go into the development of urbanization and infrastructure projects in India.”

He said these businesses were not just looking at India as a “core market,” but were also seeking to expand and start exporting.

“And given the difficulties that Chinese companies have had from an export standpoint, a number of Indian companies are taking advantage as customers look to take a dual source approach to their supply chain,” Desai said.

Upbeat on China stocks

Despite investor worry over Trump accelerating “hawkish Chinese policies” on his return to office, the portfolio manager said increased U.S.-China tensions — as well as a widely expected 2025 GDP growth target of around 5% and fiscal stimulus from Beijing — could “force the hand of Chinese policymakers, essentially to revive domestic animal spirits.”

Desai said businesses with “high brand power,” competitive advantages and high profitability are the most likely to benefit from a potential consumer rebound in the coming years.

“So, this creates quite an interesting opportunity of companies which have seen their relative valuations fall but can now create a rosier outlook for the years ahead,” he said, adding that Yum China could be a major beneficiary.

Yum China is one of China’s biggest fast-food restaurants within the Yum Brands umbrella, which includes KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.

Desai also expects Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, among the top 10 holdings in his portfolio, to benefit from a possible consumer rebound.

The next 18 months, he said, will see a “really powerful dividend, buyback, capital return story to come through in China, which is what we’ve seen actually in the U.S. over the last four or five years.”

LAS VEGAS — Honda Motor on Tuesday at the CES tech conference revealed the company’s newest electric vehicles that are set to be produced at a multibillion-dollar manufacturing complex in central Ohio.

The vehicles are the Honda 0 Saloon, which is an updated version of a concept car revealed last year at CES, and the Honda 0 SUV. Both “0 Series” vehicles are prototypes, which means they’re intended for customer production but could still see some changes ahead.

Honda said production models based on both prototypes are expected to launch in North America in 2026, starting with the SUV and then the Saloon. The automaker declined to release specific details about the new EVs such as expected pricing, range and performance.

The exteriors of the vehicles are noticeably different than Honda’s current models, featuring sleek, future-esque designs. Honda said the new 0 Series vehicles are being developed with three core principles in mind: “Thin, light and wise.”

Lance Woelfer, vice president of American Honda Motor automobile sales, said the automaker took feedback from the vehicles it revealed last year for the new models.

“That’s the reason we do it, is it gives us an opportunity to get some input and feedback from the community,” he told CNBC. “It gave us additional confidence.”

Honda on Tuesday also announced a new vehicle operating system for the Honda 0 Series vehicles called “Asimo OS” that the company said will offer highly automated driving technologies such as hands-free driving.

The name Asimo is in reference to a Honda humanoid robot that the automaker first introduced more than 20 years ago at CES.

Honda is planning to install Asimo OS in all Honda 0 Series models, including production models of the Honda 0 SUV and Honda 0 Saloon.

It’s unclear how the announced plans for a merger between Honda and fellow Japanese automaker Nissan Motor could impact any of the company’s product plans.

The 0 Series EVs from Honda were revealed a day after the company’s tie-up with Sony, called Afeela, unveiled its first EV model. The car, called AFEELA 1, is expected to go on sale in California this year, followed by deliveries in 2026.

California is the country’s largest EV market, where automakers have routinely launched such models first to assist sales and meet the state’s strict fuel economy and emissions standards.

The company said the AFEELA 1 sedan will be available in two trims, with prices starting from $89,900.

BEIJING — Huawei spinoff Honor announced Tuesday it plans to launch smartphone sales in Indonesia by the end of March, becoming the latest Chinese company to enter a market that has banned Apple’s iPhone 16 over domestic production requirements.

Indonesia requires that for smartphones sold in the country, 40% of their components must be domestically sourced. That rule has prevented Apple from selling its newest phone in the market, where it is reportedly negotiating a $1 billion investment.

Honor has an office in Indonesia and is working with one local manufacturing partner, Justin Li, the Chinese company’s president of South Pacific operations, told reporters last week. He said a folding phone will be among Honor’s first set of locally sold products — 10 items in the medium to high-end segment.

The company aims to offer around 30 products from phones to tablets in Indonesia by the end of the year. The Southeast Asian country is home to the world’s fourth-largest country by population, just behind the United States.

“Although 80% of the market is dominated by devices priced under $200, as Southeast Asia’s largest and fastest-growing economy, Indonesia presents immense potential for long-term growth,” Canalys analyst Chiew Le Xuan said in an email.

“Indonesia is emerging as a key market in Southeast Asia, driven by rapid economic growth and an expanding middle class,” Chiew said, noting the country accounts for 35% of smartphone shipments in the region and can serve as a strategic regional hub.

As of November, Oppo, Xiaomi and Transsion — all China-based — held the top three spots in Indonesia by smartphone shipments, according to Canalys. Shenzhen-based Oppo in November held its global launch for its flagship Find X8 phone in Indonesia, where the company also has a factory.

Samsung ranked fourth in Indonesia with a 16% share, tied with Vivo, another Chinese brand, the Canalys data showed.

Excluding China and Japan, just under 8% of Apple’s sales come from Asia-Pacific.

Li claimed the decision to enter Indonesia was independent of Apple’s presence in the country, and was confident in Honor’s ability to compete. He said Honor had observed the Indonesian market for years, before doubling down on expansion efforts in the last half year.

While he declined to share a current breakdown of Indonesian to Chinese staff, Li said Honor is still hiring in the country and aims to have a predominately local staff in the future.

Honor plans to open at least 10 of its own stores in Indonesia this year, in addition to selling through a local retailer, Li said.

Outside of China, Honor primarily sells in Europe and parts of Southeast Asia. Its phones are not directly sold in the U.S. The company claimed that in December, more than half of its sales came from outside China for the first time.

Honor, which is planning to go public, was spun off from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei in November 2020 after the parent company was hit by U.S. sanctions. Huawei said it does not hold any shares in Honor or have involvement in business decisions.

When Shoji Morimoto was fired from his office job in 2018, his superior had criticized him for lacking initiative and “not doing anything” of value for the company. Joke’s on him, because Morimoto, now 41, has since spun a lucrative career out of doing nothing.

Known as the rental “do nothing” guy in Japan, Morimoto’s day job involves loaning himself out to strangers who seek someone’s company for almost anything at all. These requests can range from waiting for a marathon runner at the finishing line, to being video-called while a bored client redecorates and cleans her room. Once, a client who could not attend a concert with a friend rented Morimoto to take her place.

From the ludicrous to the mundane, Morimoto will simply show up and “do nothing” other than what he was asked to do — except sex.

“I have been put in objectively difficult situations, such as standing in line under the blazing sun, standing for hours in the freezing cold, attending parties with only strangers, and standing alone on a stage in front of a large audience without doing anything,” the father of a seven-year-old told CNBC Make It.

“However, no matter what misfortune I have experienced, I feel that it is something special that only happened because I do this job, so I can still cherish it,” he said.

Morimoto’s longest one-off task was a 17-hour trip sitting on the same rail line, end to end, from early morning until the last train. “We made 13 laps on the Yamanote (train station) Line,” he said.

There have also been several requests for Morimoto to be a listening ear on clients’ bad days. However, when it comes to conversations, Morimoto offers the bare minimum and the simplest of answers. In other words, he nods and listens attentively, but makes it a point not to play therapist. 

Morimoto told CNBC he receives about 1,000 requests per year, and lets his clients decide how much to pay him. He used to charge a flat rate of between 10,000 yen and 30,000 yen ($65 to $195) for a two- to three-hour session, and earned around $80,000 last year.

Morimoto introduced the pay-as-you-wish model late last year.

“I charge a voluntary fee, so I don’t know if it will be sustainable, but I’m having fun trying to see if it’s sustainable,” said Morimoto, who added that his goal was not to make a living or sustain himself but to “simply live life and enjoy it.”

To put his services to the test, CNBC Make It accompanied Morimoto for two hours, taking him to a piglet cafe in Tokyo where customers can sip on a drink and interact with litters of piglets. 

I’d initially planned to go by myself, but entering a packed cafe and seeing customers in pairs and small groups made me feel a tinge of relief I had Morimoto’s company.

There was another perk: He could take photos of me while I played with the pigs.

After a few initial exchanges in my broken Japanese and translation assistance from Google, no further small talk was needed as I left him to his own devices and concentrated on my pig. I then realized the appeal of Morimoto: Clients like me get to enjoy an activity in a social setting without being judged for going solo. Even better, I don’t feel obligated to sustain a conversation with anyone when I’m really just there for the pigs. 

While there are no official stats tracking the rental person industry in Japan, the country is home to a slew of rental services for temporary girlfriends, boyfriends, friends and even family.

“This is a good match with the recent needs of Japanese people, who do not seek love or marriage, and do not want the hassle of such relationships, but want someone they can casually go on dates with or have dinner with,” Ai Sakata, consultant at Nomura Research Institute told CNBC.

Loneliness may be a reason that some pay for such services, but it’s not the only one, said Morimoto and experts CNBC spoke to.

Certain individuals may desire companionship, but others may just be a bit “socially awkward,” said Hiroshi Ono, professor of human resources at Hitotsubashi University.

Most Japanese people do not necessarily deal well with confrontation, or even direct communication, the professor added. “People are maybe just too awkward to say, will you be my friend? And so to avoid that awkwardness, they’re just willing to pay for it.”

Morimoto said a woman once paid him to sit in a corner of a cafe, within her line of sight, while she served divorce papers to her husband — without drawing his attention. The paper signing went smoothly, and Morimoto said the divorcee got an extra dose of courage from having someone she knew nearby.

His presence serves as a security blanket of sorts, temporarily socializing those who are uncomfortable in certain settings, the 41-year-old observed.

“There are many different [favorite] moments in this job, such as when I receive an offer message, when I meet a client, when I accompany a client to an unknown place, when I just listen to a story, and I feel happy in every moment,” Morimoto said.

“There was nothing else I truly wanted to do,” he said.

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Electric vehicle-maker Tesla’s sales in China climbed to a record high last year. Sustaining that performance in 2025 could prove tricky as competition with homegrown players intensifies, analysts said.

The U.S. electric vehicle maker saw annual sales in China jump 8.8% to a record high of more than 657,000 cars in 2024. In December alone, its sales rose 12.8% from the previous month to 83,000 units, according to Tesla China.

However, Tesla has been losing market share to Chinese new-energy-vehicle players, down from 7.8% in 2023 to 6% in the January to November period last year, according to Bill Russo, founder and CEO of Automobility, who believes Tesla is “struggling to keep pace [with domestic rivals] and has a limited and aging product portfolio.”

Brand resiliency and price cuts have supported Tesla’s sales so far, said Tu Le, founder and managing director of Sino Auto Insights, but he was less certain that Tesla could keep up its momentum in 2025, given the lack of new products and increased local competition, especially from Chinese companies.

Tesla slashed the price for its best-selling Model Y in China by 10,000 yuan ($1,364.5) in late December and extended a zero-interest five-year loan plan for car buyers until the end of January.

Its best-selling Model Y now starts at 239,900 yuan after the discount, while the Model 3 sedan starts at 231,900 yuan — Tesla had cut its prices by 14,000 yuan in April — according to its website.

Still that marked a significant premium over a swath of cheaper models offered by Chinese domestic carmakers. BYD, which dominated the market with around 34% market share, prices one of its best-selling models Seagull at 136,800 yuan, and the more affordable Yuan Plus model, starting at 96,800 yuan.

As the price war extends into the new year, Li Auto introduced cash subsidies of 15,000 yuan per purchase along with a three-year zero-interest financing scheme, according to a post last Thursday on its social media Weibo account. Nio also extended a similar three-year zero-interest loan plan for its EV buyers.

The purchasing incentives came on top of Chinese authorities’ push to extend the consumer goods trade-in program, which subsidizes consumers to trade in old cars or appliances and buy new ones at a discount.

The government-subsidized trade-in program could further lower prices for both Model 3 and Model Y by up to 50,000 yuan, Tesla China said.

“Tesla has to discount aggressively to keep pace with the ongoing price war in the market,” Russo noted.

Despite dwindling market share, Tesla is unlikely to lose its ground completely in China, according to Joe McCabe, CEO and president of AutoForecast Solutions, who compared Tesla as “the Apple of cars” — an “early adopter” in the EV space with “phenomenal” technology.

“I don’t think Tesla is at risk of not surviving,” McCabe added, “all [Elon Musk] has to do is drop the price by 5%, because he can, and that will help for little blips.”

In addition to lowering prices, Chinese electric carmakers have rolled out a slew of new models, many with fancy in-car features, such as projectors, embedded refrigerators and driver-assist systems.

Meanwhile Tesla has been slow in adopting any of these features, with its product portfolio focused solely on fully electric vehicles, while its homegrown rivals have steered into plug-in hybrid cars and extended-range EV categories.

These more traditional models appeal to buyers who are “still worried about the leap to fully electric [cars],” Sam Fiorani, vice president of AutoForecast Solutions said. “Tesla has no plans for anything other than fully electric vehicles.”

The automaker’s plans of launching its full self-driving supervised system still hinges on regulatory permission in China, while several local competitors have made the advanced driver-assistance systems a basic part of their offering, including BYD.

Musk had warned in January that Chinese automakers could “demolish most other car companies in the world” unless regulators intervene with trade barriers, as the Warren Buffet-backed BYD overtook Tesla as the world’s top-selling EV company in the last quarter of 2023.

The U.S. imposed a 100% duty on Chinese EVs last September to protect its homegrown industries from the pricing pressure posed by heavily-subsidized peers from China. The European Union has also moved to impose tariffs as high as 45.3% on Chinese EV cars imported late last year, while Tesla enjoyed a lower tariff rate of 7.8%.

The trade barriers would force Chinese automakers to find buyers at home and in the “smaller, friendlier” foreign markets, adding pressure on Tesla’s sales in China and elsewhere, Fiorani added.

Tesla’s sales of China-made EV cars including exports to foreign markets fell modestly by 0.4% from a year ago to 93,766 units in December, according to CNBC’s calculation of China Passenger Car Association data.

BYD, which is subject to 17% tariff duties for car exports to European Union, still led the rank with 509,440 cars sold in December, a near 50% year-on-year jump.

—CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng and Sonia Heng contributed to this report.

BEIJING — Chinese robot vacuum cleaner company Roborock revealed a new model on Monday that comes with a folding arm for removing socks and other obstacles — a feature powered by artificial intelligence.

It’s the latest step toward what Roborock President Quan Gang expects will be the inevitable: that robot vacuum cleaners become as essential as washing machines.

That’s something that could happen in as soon as three years, especially with the emergence of AI, Quan told CNBC in a late November interview. “If the era of AI flourishing has really arrived, I’m confident that robot vacuum cleaners will be the first category to apply AI,” he said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.

Using AI that the company developed, the Roborock Saros Z70 can detect and remove obstructions such as socks, small towels, tissues and sandals weighing less than 300 grams (10.58 ounces), according to the company.

The Saros Z70 is set for release in major global markets in the first half of the year, but Roborock has yet to announce pricing. The product reveal comes ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show that kicks off Tuesday in Las Vegas.

Ever since Massachusetts-based iRobot launched its Roomba floor vacuuming robot in 2002, the circular machines have evolved to include mopping and the ability to automatically return to the charging base. Many companies, including several based in China, now sell robot vacuum cleaners.

Beijing-based Roborock started selling to the U.S. in 2018, Quan said, noting that sales in the country didn’t start to take off until 2023. Roborock also sells its robot vacuums in countries such as Germany, China and South Korea, and makes sure to adhere to local data privacy rules, Quan said.

But robot vacuum penetration rates remain low — just over 10% in developed countries and single digits in developing countries, Quan said. He said that’s both a challenge and a potential for growth, which he expects can get a boost from the integration of artificial intelligence.

The Verge and Wired late last year both named different Roborock models the best robot vacuum available. But the machines aren’t cheap.

“Roborock’s S8 MaxV Ultra ($1,799.99) is an exceptional vacuum cleaner,” The Verge said, noting it is “the best model in the relatively new category of ‘hands-free’ robot vacs, bots that do virtually everything for you: empty their bins, refill their mop tanks, and clean and dry their mop pads.”

“Roborock invented this category with the S7 MaxV Ultra and has been steadily improving it,” The Verge said.

Wired selected Roborock’s Qrevo S, which sells for $800 on Amazon. The review highlighted the Qrevo’s lidar-based navigation and AI feature which enable the machine to distinguish between carpets and tiles for vacuuming or mopping, respectively.

Competition is fierce. CNET said two other companies’ robot vacuums tied for best of 2025, the $900 Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo — which also has a self-emptying dustbin — and the $359 iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus.

Shares of Shanghai-listed Roborock closed 2.6% higher Friday after reports emerged of the Saros Z70 and its robotic arm. The stock climbed 10.3% in 2024.

Operating revenue rose by 23.2% for the first three quarters of 2024 to 7 billion yuan ($960 million), with profit of 1.47 billion yuan. Roborock does not break out revenue by region.

Quan said that soon after Roborock’s founding in July 2014, the company sensed the importance of artificial intelligence and set up a dedicated lab in Shanghai and a research institute in Shenzhen. Each location houses around 30 researchers, who only need to focus on technology, in contrast to the product development team that must meet deadlines and consider profit, Quan said.

The next challenge is to expand the number of researchers to around 300 people, Quan said, noting it’s been hard to find qualified talent.

The company spent 9.1% of its operating revenue in the first three quarters of 2024 on research and development, according to CNBC calculations of public figures. That’s up from slightly more than 7% in each of the past three years, the data showed.

Roborock on Monday also announced updates to its washing machines, which can dry clothes in the same unit.

— CNBC’s Sonia Heng contributed to this report.

Microsoft plans to spend $80 billion in fiscal 2025 on the construction of data centers that can handle artificial intelligence workloads, the company said in a Friday blog post. 

Over half of the expected AI infrastructure spending will take place in the U.S., Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith wrote. Microsoft’s 2025 fiscal year ends in June. 

“Today, the United States leads the global AI race thanks to the investment of private capital and innovations by American companies of all sizes, from dynamic start-ups to well-established enterprises,” Smith said. “At Microsoft, we’ve seen this firsthand through our partnership with OpenAI, from rising firms such as Anthropic and xAI, and our own AI-enabled software platforms and applications.”

Several top-tier technology companies are rushing to spend billions on Nvidia graphics processing units for training and running AI models. The fast spread of OpenAI’s ChatGPT assistant, which launched in late 2022, kicked off the AI race for companies to deliver their own generative AI capabilities. Having invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI, Microsoft provides cloud infrastructure to the startup and has incorporated its models into Windows, Teams and other products.

Microsoft reported $20 billion in capital expenditures and assets acquired under finance leases worldwide, with $14.9 billion spent on property and equipment, in the first quarter of fiscal 2025. Capital expenditures will increase sequentially in the fiscal second quarter, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said in October.

Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for $63.2 billion in additions to property and equipment in fiscal 2025, implying 42% year-over-year growth.

Microsoft’s revenue from Azure and other cloud services increased 33% in the fiscal first quarter, with 12 percentage points stemming from AI services.

Smith called on President-elect Donald Trump‘s incoming administration to protect the country’s leadership in AI through education and the promotion of U.S. AI technologies abroad.

“China is starting to offer developing countries subsidized access to scarce chips, and it’s promising to build local AI data centers,” Smith wrote. “The Chinese wisely recognize that if a country standardizes on China’s AI platform, it likely will continue to rely on that platform in the future.”

He added, “The best response for the United States is not to complain about the competition but to ensure we win the race ahead. This will require that we move quickly and effectively to promote American AI as a superior alternative.”

WATCH: Microsoft plans to spend $80 billion to build out AI this year

U.S. President Joe Biden has decided to block Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion takeover bid of U.S. Steel, The Washington Post reported Friday, citing two unnamed administrative officials who did not have permission to speak about the matter.

The White House is expected to announce Biden’s decision as soon as Friday, according to the Post.

The decision on whether to let the deal proceed was referred to Biden on Dec. 23 after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States failed to reach a consensus, said U.S. Steel.

Biden had 15 days to approve or block the deal after the CFIUS evaluation reached his desk, which prompted Nippon Steel to extend the transaction’s deadline to the first quarter of 2025 from the third or fourth quarter of 2024.

The CFIUS was concerned that, following the acquisition, Nippon Steel could cut the production capacity of U.S. Steel, which would pose a risk to the national security of the United States.

“Potential reduced output by U.S. Steel could lead to supply shortages and delays that could affect industries critical to national security,” the Post reported the CFIUS as stating in its evaluation.

To assuage that worry, Nippon Steel on Tuesday offered the U.S. government the ability to veto any reductions to the company’s steel production.

Nippon Steel had previously offered a number of concessions regarding the transaction, such as keeping U.S. Steel headquartered in Pittsburgh and staffing the board of directors of U.S. Steel with U.S. citizens.

The deal was backed by U.S. Steel shareholders, who voted in April for it to go through.

“The overwhelming support from our stockholders is a clear endorsement that they recognize the compelling rationale for our transaction with NSC,” said U.S. Steel President and CEO David B. Burritt.

But those factors were not enough to sway Biden, who has long publicly opposed the deal. In March, Biden released an official statement saying that “it is vital for [U.S. Steel] to remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated.”  

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has also voiced his resistance to Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition.

“I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel of Japan,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Dec. 2.

Japan-listed Nippon Steel shares were last up 1.2% at 1 a.m. Eastern time.

— CNBC’s Lee Ying Shan contributed to this report.

China stocks extended declines on Friday in a bumpy start to the new year, despite gains in the broader Asia-Pacific region, as investors assessed Beijing’s policy signals.

Mainland China’s benchmark CSI 300 index dropped 0.18% in a volatile session, extending declines the day before. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.36%.

China’s bond yields hit record lows with the 10-year yield dropping 1.5 basis point to 1.598%, and 30-year government bond yield down 2.9 basis points at 1.819%, according to LSEG data.

The People’s Bank of China is reportedly planning to cut interest rates “at an appropriate time” this year, the Financial Times reported citing comments from the central bank. The country’s 7-day reverse repo rate is currently set at 1.5%.

In the year ahead, China will expand issuance of ultra-long bonds and ramp up efforts to boost consumption, senior officials from China’s National Development and Reform Commission told reporters Friday.

The officials reiterated plans to subsidize purchases of smartphones, smart watches and tablets, while increasing vocational training, pensions and support for gig economy workers.

Separately, China’s commerce ministry proposed to impose export restrictions on certain technology used to make battery components and for processing critical minerals like lithium and gallium, according to a notice issued on Thursday.

Investors in Asia will continue to assess the political uncertainty in South Korea as the country’s corruption watchdog seeks to execute an arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, according to local media Yonhap News. Yoon’s short-lived martial law attempt on Dec. 3 has led to a political turmoil in the country.

South Korean markets, however, appeared to shrug off the political chaos, with the Kospi index gaining 2.01% and the small-cap Kosdaq rising 2.30%. SK Hynix saw its shares surge 5.43%, as the chipmaker said it would unveil plans to position itself as a “full stack AI memory provider” at Consumer Electronics Show 2025 next week.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.72%.

Japan markets remained closed for a holiday.

The three major U.S. indexes ended the first trading session of the new year lower, extending the weakness at the end of 2024, signaling the markets may not see a “Santa Claus rally” this year.

Investors were hoping for a “Santa Claus Rally” which spans the last five trading days of a year and the first two trading days of the following January. During this stretch of time, the S&P 500 has gained an averaged 1.3% while nearly 80% of the time finishing higher, Dow Jones Market Data going back to 1950 showed.

Overnight stateside, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 151.95 points, or 0.36%, to end at 42,392.27, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.22% to 5,868.55 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.16% to 19,280.79.

That marked the fifth straight session in the red for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, their longest losing streaks since April. Big tech stocks weighed down the market, with Apple falling 2.6%, and Tesla slumping 6% on lower annual deliveries.

— CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng, Jesse Pound and Christina Cheddar Berk contributed to this report.

Air travel demand continued to surge in 2024, led by a bounce back in international trips.

From January through October alone, revenue-passenger miles worldwide, a demand metric, was up nearly 11% over last year, according to the International Air Transport Association. In 2025, IATA estimates aircraft departures of 40 million, up 4.6% from 2024.

Airlines scrambled to add flights and increase premium seating, which brings in higher revenue, especially on long-haul trips. Challenges from shortages of new aircraft to financial strife continued for some carriers, however, many passengers didn’t face the same flight disruptions as they did during acute staffing shortages coming out of the pandemic.

The most on-time airlines spanned the globe, according to a ranking released Thursday by Cirium. The aviation data firm considers punctuality an arrival that occurs within 15 minutes of the scheduled time. Delta Air Lines topped the North American ranking despite its struggle to recover from the CrowdStrike outage in July that canceled thousands of flights.

(On-time rate in parenthesis)

1. Aeromexico (86.7%)
2. Saudia Airlines (86.35%)
3. Delta Air Lines (83.46%)
4. LATAM Airlines (82.89%)
5. Qatar Airways (82.83%)
6. Azul Airlines (82.42%)
7. Avianca (81.80%)
8. Iberia (81.58%)
9. Scandinavian Airlines (81.40%)
10. United Airlines (80.93%)

1. Delta Air Lines (83.46%)
2. United Airlines (80.93%)
3. Alaska Airlines (79.25%)
4. American Airlines (77.78%)
5. Southwest Airlines (77.77%)
6. Spirit Airlines (76.05%)
7. JetBlue Airways (74.53%)
8. Frontier Airlines (71.57%)
9. Air Canada (71.36%)
10. WestJet (70.99%)