CNBC Daily Open: Markets rebound to welcome Santa Claus rally

This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our new, 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.

Restarting the rally
U.S. stocks shook off losses from the previous day to restart their rally Thursday, buoyed by a strong showing from chipmakers. Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 was near flat as the country's inflation rate in November slowed to 2.8%, the lowest level since July 2022. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.44%, leading losses in the region.

$10,000 per container
Amid diversions from the Red Sea because of Houthi attacks, the rate of shipping a 40-foot container from Shanghai to the U.K. hit $10,000. By contrast, it cost only $2,400 to ship the same container last week. Truck rates in the Middle East have also more than doubled. As of Thursday morning U.S. time, there were 158 vessels carrying over 2.1 million cargo containers re-routing away from the Red Sea.

Shares dunked
Nike shares plunged 11.7% in extended trading after the company reported mixed results and a plan to cut costs by about $2 billion over the next three years. For its fiscal second quarter, Nike beat estimates for earnings per share — suggesting its cost cutting's already under way — but disappointed on its revenue. That's the second quarter in a row Nike's fallen short of sales estimates.

More vocational education
Despite China's record youth unemployment — which climbed above 20% this summer before authorities stopped releasing data — semiconductor companies and automobile manufacturing firms are showing marked headcount growth. What the country needs, then, is vocational, not college graduates — something China's trying to encourage.

[PRO] Growth stocks are back
After last week's U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, markets are all but certain rates are past their peak. This makes growth stocks more attractive, according to Goldman Sachs, because lower interest rates means the potential profits of those companies will be more valuable in the future. Here are the global growth stocks that Goldman likes.

In a sign of strength, major indexes rebounded off their worst day in months on Wednesday to rise again yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.87%, the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.26% and the S&P 500 added 1.03%.

The S&P's now tantalizingly near its record close again — just around 1% away, to be specific.

Even though the S&P sank the most in three months on Wednesday, it's still on track to see a winning week. That'd give the index its eighth positive week in a row, the longest winning streak it's enjoyed since 2017.

Yesterday's rally was broad-based, with more than 450 names rising in the S&P, but chip stocks were a standout. Shares of Micron Technology, in particular, popped 8.6% to put it at the top of the charts after the chipmaker reported positive earnings. Its rising tide helped lift the sector as a whole: Marvell Technology jumped 4.71%, Arm added 4.09% and Advanced Micro Devices rose 3.28%, to name a few.

Optimism from individual investors might have helped the resilience of U.S. stocks. Bullishness about the outlook for stocks across the next six month is at the highest since April 2021, according to the latest survey by American Association of Individual Investors.

But UBS managing partner Michael Riesner thinks the rally in stocks is “the setup for a classic bull trap.” Stocks may not rise sustainably into the new year, Riesner thinks, because of low volatility and yields hitting oversold levels.

Still, let's not dampen the holiday cheer. Today marks the first day of the “Santa Claus rally.” It comprises the final five trading days of the year and the first two of the new year, during which the S&P, on average, sees gains of 1.3%, according to Jeff Hirsch, editor of the Stock Trader's Almanac.

The seasonal strength's proven so enduring that the S&P has seen declines only two times across the past 10 Santa rally periods, noted CNBC's Robert Hum. And with the S&P up around 3% month to date, it looks like investors will have presents under the tree this year.

Happy holidays!