This report comes from today's CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open keeps investors updated on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.

Nasdaq still lags other major indexes
this S&P 500 Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Tuesday, but Nasdaq Composite Index The pullback made it a second straight day of underperformance. Asia-Pacific stocks were mostly lower on Wednesday. Japanese Nikkei 225 Index Stocks fell about 0.1% as a Reuters Tankan survey in January found business confidence in the country rising.

South Korean President Yoon was arrested
South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol was arrested on Wednesday by the country's Office of Corruption Investigation of Senior Officials. The arrest was a first for South Korea's current leader and the CIO's second attempt after the first attempt was thwarted by presidential security personnel. South Korean stock markets reacted mutedly to the news.

The impact of the global bond sell-off
Analysts told CNBC that the sell-off in global bond markets is accelerating on the prospect of fewer U.S. interest rate cuts and rising government debt. Higher yields would increase borrowing costs for governments and businesses, potentially forcing higher taxes and lowering corporate profits. Rising U.S. yields are also weighing on other currencies and making it harder for global central banks to cut interest rates.

Meta lays off employees, Microsoft freezes hiring
Yuan CNBC confirmed on Tuesday that the company will lay off about 5% of its lowest-performing employees. CEO Mark Zuckerberg informed employees of the decision in a memo posted on an internal company forum on Tuesday. respectively, Microsoft The company plans to pause hiring at some of its U.S. consulting operations, according to an internal memo.

SEC sues Musk over Twitter stock issues
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk on Tuesday, accusing the billionaire of securities fraud in 2022 for failing to disclose that he had accumulated an active stake in Twitter. This secrecy allowed him to buy stocks at "artificially low prices."

(PRO) How one ETF could achieve 80% returns in 2024
A little-known exchange-traded fund managed by a company founded in 2021 surged 80% in 2024. The ETF's manager explained the strategy behind the gains and revealed the constituent companies and their weightings in the fund.

The market’s technical rout isn’t over yet.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.23%, underperforming the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (up 0.11% and 0.52%, respectively) for the second consecutive day. All seven major stocks fell, with Meta, Tesla and NVIDIA The largest losses were recorded.

The decline in tech stocks was accompanied by news of layoffs and hiring freezes, adding to the industry's woes.

In order to reduce expenses, Microsoft will suspend hiring in some consulting departments, reduce travel expenses and cut marketing expenses, according to an internal memo.

Meta, meanwhile, announced in an internal memo on Tuesday that it would "retire approximately 5% of its lowest-performing employees." (Just like one “opts out” of fact-checking or “in” free speech, I suppose.) Zuckerberg also warned employees that 2025 would be an “intense year.”

Of course, Zuckerberg's warning was directed at Meta, but it could also apply to tech companies that are trying to invest heavily in artificial intelligence but don't necessarily have the revenue to justify such high spending.

However, there are signs of optimism about the business environment this year as we enter fourth-quarter earnings season.

"We do think earnings are going to be stronger," said Jay Hatfield, founder of Infrastructure Capital Advisors.

"The economy is strong in the fourth quarter. Typically, companies know by then if they have a problem, they're probably going to be very optimistic about the future because the Trump administration is pro-business. So we think most CEOs The forecast for 2025 is very optimistic.”

Perhaps optimistic CEOs are leading other industries, as Tuesday's move away from technology and toward utilities, financials and materials suggests.

Whether this industry rotation continues will depend on the Consumer Price Index, which is set to fall later today.

—CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han, Hakyung Kim and Brian Evans contributed to this report.