The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose for a second day as investors looked for potential 2022 winners despite the looming risk of the Omicron variant and the ongoing pandemic. The Dow was the only benchmark to close in the green, rising over 200 points and posting both intraday and closing record highs. The S&P 500 also climbed to a fresh intraday high, but declines in tech shares ultimately pulled the S&P 500 and Nasdaq into negative territory.
Here's how the market settled on Tuesday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
Ford doubles F-150 Lightning production capacity again:
Ford
The new EV model has attracted nearly 200,000 reservations already, causing the automaker to halt pre-orders as reservations far outpaced Ford's prior doubled production capacity for 70,000 to 80,000 units. Ford's initial output for the vehicle was set for about 40,000 units.
Toyota tops GM in 2021 total U.S. auto sales:
Toyota Motors
In 2021, Toyota sold 2.332 million vehicles in the U.S., outpacing GM's total of 2.218 million, the companies reported Tuesday. GM's U.S. sales declined by 13% for the year, while Toyota's increased by 10%. In 2020, GM's sales in the U.S. totaled 2.55 million, above Toyota's 2.11 million and Ford's 2.04 million.
Job openings stayed historically high in November:
Job openings remained historically high in November, as continued labor shortages kept demand levels high amongst employers.
The Department of Labor reported 10.562 million job openings in November in its latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) report published Tuesday. The month's print came in below October's total of 11.033 million.
Moreover, the quits level jumped to 4.53 million for November, representing an 8.9% increase from October and breaking September's record of 4.36 million. However, as a percentage of the workforce, the quits rate of 3% matched September's print.
Here's how market benchmarks started trading soon after opening bell:
S&P 500 Index: +0.31% or +15.07 points to 4,811.63
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.50% or +182.71 points to 36,767.77
Nasdaq Composite Index: +0.03% or +4.23 points to 15,837.03