Cryptocurrencies rose to start the year, rebounding from recent losses as investor optimism returned to the market.

The price of bitcoin rose 2% to $96,711.71 Thursday, bringing its new year gain to about 3% when counting trading from the Jan. 1 session.

The CoinDesk 20 index, a measure of the broader cryptocurrency market, advanced 4%. The token tied to Solana, the popular Ethereum competitor, led the gains with a 7% increase. Crypto stocks Coinbase and MicroStrategy each climbed 4% as well.

This year is expected to be a banner year for the crypto industry thanks to a more favorable regulatory environment promised by President-elect Donald Trump. Investors are hoping Congress will pass its first ever crypto focused legislation – which could be centered around stablecoins or market structure.

Traders are also keen to see the crypto public equity markets open up with more initial public offerings and progress on a potential national strategic bitcoin reserve.

Crypto assets slid into the end of 2024. Although the post-election rally that sent bitcoin to new records above $100,000 had fizzled, the flagship cryptocurrency still ended the year up more than 120%. Long-term holders took some profits while others sold amid renewed uncertainty about the direction of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts in 2025.

Tesla posted its fourth-quarter vehicle production and deliveries report on Thursday. Here are the key numbers:

Total deliveries Q4 2024: 495,570

Total production Q4 2024: 459,445

Total annual deliveries 2024: 1,789,226

Total annual production 2024: 1,773,443

Results for the quarter represented the first annual drop in delivery numbers for Tesla, which reported 1.81 million deliveries in 2023. It reported 484,507 deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Tesla shares fell by as much as 7% in trading on Thursday.

Analysts had expected Tesla to report deliveries in the quarter of 504,770, including 474,000 Model 3 and Model Y EVs, according to a consensus of estimates compiled by StreetAccount. Tesla sent some investors a company-compiled delivery consensus of 506,763 vehicles, based on a survey of 26 analysts. A widely followed independent Tesla researcher, who publishes as Troy Teslike, predicted deliveries of 501,000.

Deliveries are the closest approximation of sales reported by Tesla but are not precisely defined in the company’s shareholder communications.

The fourth-quarter report comes after a huge late-year rally in Tesla’s stock, which finished 2024 up 63%. In mid-December, the shares reached a record, eclipsing their prior all-time high from 2021.

It was a big turnaround from the first quarter, when the stock plummeted 29%, its worst period since 2022, as the company contended with declining sales despite price cuts and incentives for buyers. On the company’s first-quarter earnings call in April, CEO Elon Musk told investors that while he expected “higher sales this year than last year,” the growth rate would slow from 38% in 2023.

The biggest story at Tesla in the back half of the year was Musk’s role in President-elect Donald Trump’s election campaign. Musk, the world’s richest person, poured in around $277 million to promote Trump and other Republican candidates, and spent weeks on the road campaigning in swing states.

Musk, who also runs SpaceX and xAI and owns social network X, has been tapped to co-lead an advisory group to the Trump administration that will aim to slash federal spending, personnel and regulations.

Sam Fiorani, a vice president at industry research group Auto Forecast Solutions, told CNBC in an email that Musk’s foray into politics may have “pulled his focus away from his core businesses.” However, the degree to which investors or EV buyers care won’t be reflected in Tesla’s numbers until the first quarter, he said.

Until recently, Tesla had been one of the only automakers mass producing battery-electric vehicles. The company now faces an onslaught of competition from domestic automakers, including General Motors, Ford and Rivian as well as BYD in China, Hyundai in Korea, and European auto giants BMW and Volkswagen.

Patrick George, editor in chief of InsideEVs, told CNBC that he thinks Tesla still does many things better than any other EV maker, especially when it comes to its charging network. But Tesla’s biggest operational challenge in the latest quarter was “the nuts-and-bolts job of being a car company.”

In North America, Tesla has remained dominant. The company offered a range of incentives and price cuts, even on its most popular Model Y SUV, during the fourth quarter to drive sales. Still, Tesla experienced a buildup of inventory.

During the fourth quarter, the company sent Cybertruck assembly line workers home for a few days, indicating that it may be looking to avoid flooding the market with too many of the vehicles.

Looking ahead to 2025, Musk said on an earnings call in October that Tesla expects to be offering lower-cost and autonomous vehicles in 2025, which should lead to “20% to 30% growth” over 2024.

WATCH: Chinese auto market could reach 55-60% EVs by end of 2025

Apple is offering discounts on its top-end iPhones and other products in China for the upcoming Chinese New Year as the U.S. tech giant faces heightened competition in one of its most crucial markets.

The Cupertino giant is giving customers 500 Chinese yuan ($68.50) off of the iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max, and 400 yuan off the iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Plus. Offers also include discounts for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15.

For a long time Apple has resisted offering discounts through its own retail channels. Instead, third-party retailers would offer deals at certain times of the year. However, as competition ramps up, Apple has been more inclined in the last year to post seasonal deals.

Apple offered a similar Chinese New Year deal last year and in May, the company offered hefty discounts as part of China’s 618 shopping festival.

The firm’s latest challenge has come from a resurgent Huawei and other domestic brands. Apple smartphone shipments fell 6% year-on-year in mainland China in the third quarter of 2024, according to Canalys. The company’s market share also slipped to 14% from 16% a year earlier.

Huawei meanwhile saw shipments jump 24% year-on-year, Canalys data shows, while the company’s market share hit 16% from 13% a year earlier.

Huawei, which was once the number one smartphone player in the world before U.S. sanctions crippled its handset business, has aggressively launched new devices since the latter half of 2023. These devices contain chips that many had thought would be difficult to produce due to U.S. restrictions on Huawei.

Last year, the Chinese tech firm launched a first-of-its-kind trifold phone in a bid to show off its technological capabilities.