The markets retreated from early morning highs during the midday with the Dow rising 20 points to 19,783. Nasdaq gained 15 points to 5,399.
Ford Motor will cancel plans to build a new $1.6 billion factory in Mexico opting instead to expand a Michigan plant. The automaker will invest $700 million to transform the existing facility to make autonomous and electric vehicles. Production of the Ford Focus will still be moved to Mexico but will be built at an existing plant.
President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose a big border tax on General Motors for building its Chevrolet Cruze in Mexico then selling the vehicles in the United States. GM said that all Cruze sedans that are sold domestically are made in Lordstown, Ohio while sedans sold in foreign markets are built in Ramos, Mexico. A small number of the new Cruze hatchbacks that are sold in the U.S. are assembled in Mexico.
Intel has applied for approval to acquire approximately 15% of digital mapping company HERE. HERE is jointly owned by German luxury automakers Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen. Tencent Holdings, NavInfo and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC agreed at the end of December to buy a 10% stake in HERE.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 4 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index gained 8 points to 2,247. Bitcoin added $1 to $1,001.
