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New stats in from housing platform Rightmove show that house hunters and sellers are gearing up for 2025, with the busiest ever Boxing Day for new seller activity.

The company said there was a record number of Boxing Day properties listed for sale by agents on the 26 December 2024.

Other stats:

• The number of new properties coming to the market for sale was 26% higher than Boxing Day 2023

• The majority (46%) of homes put up for sale were mid-market three and four bed properties

• The South East saw the most new properties coming to market, followed by the East of England

Meanwhile, the number of enquiries sent to estate agents about homes for sale was also 20% higher than Boxing Day last year, as potential buyers capitalised on more choice ahead of a 2025 move.

Shares in Tesla (TSLA) dropped 5% on Friday and were around 2% lower in pre-market trading on Monday as the electric car maker’s stock continues to be closely tied to the actions and statements of its billionaire founder Elon Musk.

Musk, who has been embroiled in a series of controversial remarks recently, claimed that he would "go to war" with the MAGA movement over skilled migrant visas. He also vowed to kick out any "hateful, unrepentant racists," marking the latest in a series of provocative statements.

His most recent outburst was in response to criticism of the H-1B visa programme, which allows US companies to hire skilled foreign workers. "Take a big step back," Musk said, as he launched an attack on critics of the programme.

The world's richest man, who himself came to the US from South Africa on an H-1B visa, defended the programme as vital to America’s success. "The reason I'm in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H-1B," Musk wrote on X.

Despite the dip in stock price, Tesla has posted a 74.1% gain so far this year. At $432.41 (£343.47) per share, however, it remains 9.9% below its 52-week high of $479.86, reached in December 2024. For long-term investors, Tesla’s performance has been lucrative: those who invested $1,000 in Tesla shares five years ago would now have an investment worth $15,071.

Shares of US chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) rose in pre-market trading as the company prepares to unveil its next big growth driver: robotics.

Best known for powering the AI boom through its cutting-edge infrastructure, Nvidia is set to launch its latest generation of compact computers designed for humanoid robots, dubbed Jetson Thor, in the first half of 2025.

“The ChatGPT moment for physical AI and robotics is around the corner,” Deepu Talla, Nvidia’s vice-president of robotics, told the Financial Times, adding that he believed the market had reached a “tipping point”.

This move is the latest step in Nvidia's long-term strategy to expand beyond traditional markets. While the company doesn’t plan to directly compete with robotics giants like Tesla, it aims to support the "hundreds of thousands" of robot manufacturers globally by providing the essential hardware that powers their creations.

Read more on Yahoo Finance UK

Yahoo Finance UK's Pedro Goncalves writes:

Oil prices kicked off the final week of 2024 with losses as traders awaited critical economic data from China and the US, which will offer insights into the growth prospects of the world’s two largest oil consumers.

Brent crude futures fell by 0.3%, trading at $73.98 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 0.4%, settling at $70.34.

Despite China’s economic performance falling short of expectations this year, global oil consumption reached an all-time high in 2024, with oil stockpiles heading into the new year at relatively low levels. This points to a tightening supply outlook, according to Ryan Fitzmaurice, senior commodity strategist at Marex.

"Global oil consumption reached an all-time high in 2024 despite China underperforming expectations, and oil stockpiles are heading into next year at relatively low levels," said Ryan Fitzmaurice, senior commodity strategist at Marex.

"Going forward, China economic data is expected to improve as the recent stimulus measures take hold in 2025. Also, lower rates in the US and elsewhere should be supportive of oil consumption."

Investors are closely watching two key economic indicators due this week — China’s PMI factory surveys on Tuesday and the US ISM manufacturing survey for December, which will be released on Friday. These reports will offer clues on the economic health of the two major oil-consuming nations.

Asian stocks have followed the mood music in the US, closing lower on Monday as appetite for risk wanes across the world ahead of the new year.

Bloomberg reported that trading volumes for Japanese stocks were about 17% below their 30-day average, while those in Australia were about 51% lower.

The Nikkei (^N225) fell 1% in the session. Today was the final trading day for Japanese financial markets, with trading now closed until 6 January.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng (^HSI) was also 0.2% lower while Korea's KOSPI (^KS11) fell 0.2%.

Our US team also has an obituary of former US president Jimmy Carter, who died aged 100 over the weekend:

Former President Jimmy Carter died Sunday at the age of 100 at his home in Plains, Georgia, the Carter Center said. Carter served one term as the 37th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 but lived longer than any other US president.

Carter led the country during a tumultuous time, as the economy struggled while tensions thickened abroad in the Middle East. Carter became known for his humanitarian approach to the job, and he was also responsible for the creation of the Departments of Energy and Education.

When the Democratic politician from Georgia took office in the late 1970s, the country faced an energy crisis and a deteriorating economy. In a famous speech on April 18, 1977, Carter compared the energy crisis to "the moral equivalent of war" and predicted that money spent on imported oil would vastly increase by 1985. While the US was facing an energy shortage in 1977, Carter delivered his well-known fireside speech about conservation.

Read more on Yahoo Finance

Stocks look set to compound losses when markets open later on in the US, with all three major indices in the red in premarket trade.

From our US team:

US stocks closed the holiday week on a downbeat note as Wall Street slogged to the finish of a largely triumphant year.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) lost 1.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) shed 1.5% Friday at the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gave up 0.8%. Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) hovered near seven-month highs around 4.6%.

After stacking impressive gains this year, some of the biggest names in tech lost ground as investors took profits, rebalance portfolios, or reassessed their lofty valuations. Tesla (TSLA) lost 5%. Nvidia (NVDA) gave up 2%, while Amazon (AMZN) decreased by 1%.

Wall Street has just three trading days remaining in a 2024 full of big gains, but markets have been unable to mount a "Santa Claus" rally into the end of the year.

Despite the negative day, the S&P 500 logged a weekly gain of 1.8%. The Nasdaq also posted a win of 1.8%, while the Dow notched a 1.5% increase.

Hello from London. Lucy Harley-McKeown here. We're light on data and planned corporate updates today ahead of the New Year break, but will be following the markets.

Europe is set for a lower open. Last week, US markets ended on a sour note too.

Let's get to it.