What you need to know today

Just a bit more to go
U.S. markets were mostly flat Thursday, with the S&P 500 on the cusp of a record close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was the only major index to eke out a convincing gain. Across the Atlantic, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index dipped 0.11%, with bank stocks dropping around 0.5%.
Xiaomi enters EV market
Chinese consumer electronics company Xiaomi revealed an electric vehicle, the Xiaomi SU7, that will be its first entrant into the country's crowded EV market dominated by Tesla and BYD. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun said the car "is in trial production and it will hit the domestic market in a few months," and that "the price has not been finalized yet."
Investor confidence affirmed
Shares of point-of-sale lender Affirm rocketed 430% this year, outperforming all other U.S. technology companies valued at $5 billion or more. Affirm shares got a particular big boost in November after the company expanded a partnership with Amazon, and buy now, pay later purchases hit an all-time high on Cyber Monday.
The most magnificent one
Out of the "Magnificent 7" technology stocks, Microsoft's the favorite of the 300 investors, traders and money managers surveyed by CNBC's Delivery Alpha Stock Survey, with 44% saying they'd pick the stock first. More than three-quarters of respondents also think the "Magnificent 7" stocks will continue outperforming the other 493 S&P 500 stocks in 2024. $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$