Stock Markets: 2023’s winners and losers

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.

First and last trading day
Asia-Pacific markets kicked off 2024 mixed. China’s Shanghai Composite dipped 0.21% as official data showed the country’s manufacturing activity contracted in December. Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5%. On Friday, the last trading day of the year, U.S. stocks disappointed investors who were hoping the S&P 500 would close the year on a record high. Still, it was a mighty good year for major indexes.

Bright spots in Asia
The outlook for Asian markets in 2024 is “relatively promising,” according to Pinebridge Investments, which said China and India — Asia’s two biggest economies — can’t be overlooked. Their view is supported by the International Monetary Fund, which projects a higher growth rate for Asia compared with the global rate. Here’s what to pay attention to for the region in 2024.

Bullish on bitcoin
Bitcoin rallied about 152% in 2023 despite high-profile criminal cases against cryptocurrency exchanges FTX and Binance. Bitcoin was last trading above $45,300 — and many industry executives think the cryptocurrency’s poised for a new bull run, thanks to an event known as “halving” and the potential approval of a bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the U.S.

BYD set to beat Tesla
BYD said it produced more than 3 million new EVs in 2023, putting the Chinese electric vehicle maker on track to surpass Tesla, in terms of production, for a second straight year. Tesla is due to release its full-year figures later on Tuesday. But according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Elon Musk’s EV company produced 1.35 million vehicles during the first three quarters of 2023.

[PRO] Alternative assets?
Interest in alternative assets — which include anything outside public market assets like stocks, bonds, commodities and cash — looks to be growing. It’s no surprise for some analysts, who think there’s “incredible value in private markets.” But others aren’t so sure. Read what the pros say on navigating the private market.

Instead of ending the year with a bang by surpassing its all-time high, the S&P 500 let out a whimper — to paraphrase the poet T.S. Eliot’s famous lines — and fell 0.28% on the last trading day of 2023.

Other major indexes lost momentum and retreated too. The Dow Jones…