The markets surged during the midday with the Dow jumping 223 points to 20,771. Nasdaq soared 70 points to 5,981.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal by General Motors to prevent lawsuits over its ignition switch defect. Faulty ignition switches that could have caused engines to stall and power to be cut from braking, air bag and steering systems have been linked to 124 deaths and 275 injuries. GM argued that its bankruptcy in 2009 prevented lawsuits against the automaker.
Tesla announced plans to double the number of charging stations for its electric vehicles over the next year. There are currently 5,400 Supercharger stations globally and 9,000 Destination Charging connectors that are located at hotels, malls and restaurants. Charging times differ depending on the capacity of the car battery.
Microsoft unveiled new artificial intelligence features to its Dynamics 365 sales software. The new capabilities will assess the business relationship of a sales person with a potential client by analyzing email exchanges and LinkedIn data and provide guidance to the sales person. Microsoft expects to expand its 4.3% share of the sales software market with the added features.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 3 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index soared 24 points to 2,373. Bitcoin rose $5 to $1245.
