Wall Street Today: US stocks open higher after markets reopen post New Year; Tesla shares down 7% on low delivery data

The US stock markets opened higher on the first trading session of 2025, after the New Year break on January 2, as investors eye a fresh political landscape and more interest rate cuts to fuel the nation's economy.

At 9:30 am (EDT), the stock markets for the United States opened higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.27 per cent to open at 42,660.09 points, compared to 42,544.22 points at the previous market close. The stock markets were closed on account of the New Year holiday on Wednesday, January 1. 

Tesla Slump 

Tesla Inc. (TSLA) shares fell nearly 7 per cent to $375.78 at the US market open on January 2, compared to $403.84 at the previous market close. The stocks crashed at market open due to low annual delivery data posted by the company. 

Tesla delivered more than 495,570 vehicle units in the three months as of December 31, 2024, missing the analyst estimates of 503,269 vehicle units, reported the news agency Reuters, citing the poll of 15 analysts by LSEG. 

The company delivered 471,930 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles and 23,640 units of other models, including the Model S sedan, Cybertruck and Model X premium SUV. It produced 459,445 vehicles during the October-December period, according to the news agency. 

Dow Jones stocks

As the index opened high due to investor optimism, the top gainers for the early trading session were Nvidia Corp., Chevron Corp., McDonald's Corp., Amazon.com Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Caterpillar Inc. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Merck & Co. Inc., Home Depot Inc., Amgen Inc., and American Express Co.

Boeing Co., Apple Inc., Sherwin-Williams Co., Nike Inc., Salesforce Inc., Walmart Inc., Procter & Gamble Co., Walt Disney Co., International Business Machines Corp., and Travelers Cos. Inc. were among the top losers in the early session, according to data collected from Marketwatch.com. 

S&P 500

The S&P 500 index opened 0.37 per cent higher 5,903.26 points on Thursday, compared to 5,881.63 points at the previous market close.

Constellation Energy Corp., Vistra Corp., First Solar Inc., Western Digital Corp., Enphase Energy Inc., Newmont Corp., Devon Energy Corp., Halliburton Co., Uber Technologies Inc., and Moderna Inc., were the top gainers in the early market session.

On the other hand, companies like Tesla Inc., Boeing Co., Apple Inc., Workday Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., Palantir Technologies Inc., EPAM Systems Inc., PPG Industries Inc., General Motors Co., and Eastman Chemical Co., were among the top losers in the early session. 

Nasdaq Composite 

The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.48 per cent to open at 19,403.9 points, compared to 19,310.79 points at the previous market close. 

N2OFF Inc., BioNexus Gene Lab Corp., Carmell Corp., Crown LNG Holdings Ltd., Intchains Group Ltd., Mustang Bio Inc., SuperCom Ltd., Alset Inc., Revelation Bioscience Inc., Aptorum Group Ltd. were among the top gainers on early Nasdaq on January 2. 

While, Neumora Therapeutics Inc., Shineco Inc., iLearningEngines Inc., Baird Medical Investment Holdings Ltd., American Resources Corp., Sidus Space Inc., New Era Helium Inc., Mars Acquisition Corp., Fly-E Group Inc., and reAlpha Tech Corp were among the top laggards, according to Marketwatch early sessions data.