Stocks futures point to a solid start to 2022
U.S. stock markets were poised for a strong open Monday as traders bet on another strong year for stocks after major indexes posted a third straight year of growth in 2021.
As of 6:10 a.m. ET, Dow futures were marked 198 points, or 0.55% higher to 36,424. S&P 500 futures rose 31.5 points, or 0.66% to 4,790 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures gained 123 points, or 0.75% to 16,443.75.
Wall Street had a banner year in 2021, with the three major indexes posting double-digit gains. The S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq gained 26.9%, 18.7%, and 21.4%, respectively.
Stocks got a boost last year from an easy monetary policy from the Federal Reserve and a flood of fiscal stimulus from Washington, which were meant to help the economy recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Crude futures jump ahead of OPEC+ meeting
In energy markets, crude futures were also trading in the green territory as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, prepares to hold their first meeting of 2022.
The group will meet on Tuesday to discuss their plans to increase crude oil production by 400,000 barrels per day.
At their previous meeting, the oil producers reaffirmed their decision to raise output this year and projected that the omicron variant will have a “mild and short-lived” impact on oil demand.
As of 6:10 a.m. ET, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 82 cents, or 1.09% to $76.03 a barrel. Brent crude futures added 97 cents, or 1.25% to $78.75 a barrel.
Tesla smashes analysts’ expectations; delivers more than 308,000 vehicles in Q4
Meanwhile, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) delivered more than 308,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter, well above Wall Street analysts expected and taking its deliveries to a record 936,000 vehicles in 2021, up 87% from the prior year.
On average, analysts polled by FactSet expected Tesla to have delivered 267,000 vehicles in the quarter and 897,000 for the year.
The electric-vehicle maker said on Sunday that its 2021 deliveries included 911,209 Model 3 sedans and Model Y sport-utility vehicles.
Deliveries of its higher-end models, the Model X SUV and the Model S luxury sedan, totaled roughly 24,964, down from about 57,000 in 2020.
Tesla stock popped $74.22, or 7.02% to $1,131 a share in the premarket trading session Monday.
