SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 20: A Kodiak bear receives a Christmas treat at Taronga Zoo on December 20, 2007 in Sydney, Australia.

(Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

Stocks dip for third consecutive day as Santa Claus rally stalls

Traders digested the minutes from the Fed’s December meeting.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 posted small declines on Tuesday while the Russell 2000 lagged with a drop of 0.8%. Minutes from the Fed’s December meeting showed that most of the Fed’s policymakers anticipate further rate cuts in 2026. Energy was once again the best-performing sector.

Notable movers:

Meta moved higher on news that it will acquire AI startup Manus for more than $2 billion.
Nio climbed as China announced an extension of its trade-in subsidy to boost EV buying.
Molina Healthcare rose after “The Big Short” investor Michael Burry called it a “generational buy.”

541%

Matt Phillips6h

A 541% gain for Japanese chipmaker Kioxia makes it the “world’s best performing stock” this year.

That’s according to Bloomberg, which said Kioxia is the top performer in the MSCI World Index, a widely used benchmark for large and midcap stocks in developed markets.

Like domestic highfliers Micron and Sandisk, Kioxia specializes in making NAND flash memory chips, which are crucial to long-term permanent storage of digital data.

Massive amounts of storage are needed for the repositories of images, videos, and text files, to name a few formats, which AI uses to generate responses for users. As a result, the AI investment boom has sent prices for NAND flash up sharply, along with the stock prices of companies that make it.

Luke Kawa8h

Opendoor has erased all the gains made since September leadership changes as enthusiasm premium fizzles

If you bought Opendoor Technologies when the online real estate company revealed that Shopify COO Kaz Nejatian was coming in to serve as CEO, with cofounders Keith Rabois and Eric Wu joining the board of directors, you are underwater on that purchase.

Shares closed at $5.83 on Monday, below where they ended on September 10 ($5.86) before these management changes were announced after the close. That revelation sparked the biggest one-day gain in Opendoor’s history, with the stock up nearly 80% the next session to hit its highest level since 2022.

Of course, it’s still early days. These new leaders haven’t even reported results for a full quarter in which they’ve been at the helm.

But in looking at the factors that buoyed Opendoor the stock, it seems clear that the enthusiasm (and speculative appetite) that was omnipresent from mid-July through September has petered out. While some of this may be a function of the typically slowed holiday season, trading volumes have dipped to an average of about 62 million over the past 21 sessions, a level not seen since May. Similarly, over the past 21 sessions, call volumes are running at their lowest level since July.

Max Knoblauch8h

Nio climbs as China announces extension of its trade-in subsidy to boost EV buying

China’s trade-in subsidies intended to boost EV and low-emission vehicle purchases will be extended into 2026, according to a notice by Chinese officials on Tuesday. Shares of Chinese EV maker Nio climbed more than 6% on Tuesday morning.

Prior to the notice, China had signaled it would be pulling the plug on many subsidies for its maturing EV sector.

The extended trade-in subsidies will provide consumers up to $2,850 to scrap their older vehicles and purchase a qualifying new energy vehicle. The EV stimulus plan is part of a broader $8.94 billion program intended to boost the purchase of new consumer goods including refrigerators, smartphones, and washing machines.

Chinese EV Stocks Rise on Trade-In Subsidy Extension to 2026 | EV

Off the charts

Rani Molla, Jon Keegan8h

The flagship Apple Store, "The Cube", on 5th Avenue.

One of Dan Ives’ top 5 AI stocks for 2026 is Apple, despite its “invisible AI strategy”

Right now, investors like Apple because its AI strategy is different from other megacap tech companies.