5 things to know before the stock market opens on Monday

This is CNBC’s Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox.

Here are five important things investors need to know to start their trading day.

Joy to investors! While some market participants feared the so-called Santa Claus rally might not materialize this year, major indexes across the board emerged victorious in last week’s shortened holiday trading period. of S&P500 It also gave traders the gift of hitting new all-time highs.

Here’s what you need to know:

Last week, the three major indexes each rose more than 1%, marking the fourth positive week for each index in the past five weeks. Despite ending Friday’s trading slightly lower, the benchmark S&P 500 index still set a new intraday record and came within 1% of the 7,000 milestone. This week was another shortened trading week as the stock market was closed on Thursday for New Year’s Day. Additionally, it was a light week for economic indicators and corporate earnings. However, investors are keeping an eye on the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s December meeting, scheduled for New Year’s Eve. Follow live market updates here.

A massive winter storm hit the northeastern United States, causing thousands of flights to be canceled or delayed over the weekend. The disruption occurred during the busy holiday season, when more than 50 million people are expected to fly.

As CNBC’s Leslie Josephs reports, the following airlines are american, delta, united, southwest and jet blue Last week, it waived change fees for travelers flying to and from several airports in the Northeast. However, if travel plans are changed due to the storm, customers will have until the end of the year, or before the ball drops in Times Square, to travel.

President Donald Trump met with the leaders of Ukraine and Russia yesterday, continuing to push for a peace deal between the two countries.

President Trump welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Before the talks began, President Trump said he was ready for a deal that was “good for Ukraine” and “good for everyone.” President Trump later said he was “very close” to a deal. President Zelensky said this morning that he asked President Trump for up to 50 years of security for Ukraine.

Earlier Sunday, President Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he had a “very productive and successful phone conversation” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. President Trump said he planned to call President Putin again after finishing his meeting with President Zelensky.

Grok is calling Nvidia’s Acquire excellent human resources through a “non-exclusive license agreement.” Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said in a report that the structure could be used to avoid antitrust concerns and “perpetuate the fiction of competition.”

As CNBC’s Ari Levy reports, Groq will be Nvidia’s biggest acquisition ever. But the world’s most valuable companies are instead choosing to pay for access to startup talent and technology through licensing. This has been a popular strategy among major technology companies in recent years.

For some on Wall Street, the deal underscores Nvidia’s ballooning size. “They’re so big now that they can do a $20 billion deal on Christmas Eve without a press release and without anyone looking,” Rasgon said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Streets” on Friday.

Value has been a hot topic at some restaurant chains this year as they try to retain price-sensitive consumers. mcdonalds We’ve extended our $5 Value Meals and brought back our Extra Value Meals. taco bell Following this, we expanded our Luxe Cravings box offering this year.

As CNBC’s Amelia Lucas reports, that strategy will likely continue into 2026.

The emphasis on value comes as data shows diners are more concerned about cost after years of high inflation. But not all restaurant chains are following this trend. chipotle pepper and hippopotamus We avoided discounts and focused on quality instead.

Here’s what we’re looking at this 4-day trading week:

Wednesday: Fed meeting minutes Thursday: Stock markets closed for New Year’s Day

CNBC Pro subscribers can see the calendar and week’s summary here.

—CNBC’s Sean Conlon, Sarah Min, Leslie Josephs, Hugh Son, Holly Ellyatt, Ari Levy and Amelia Lucas contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this version.