Investing.com - The major market indexes on Wall Street all increased on Tuesday, energized by the news that Ford Motor Co . (NYSE:F) has nixed plans to build a new plant in Mexico, and is planning to spend nearly $1 billion on new facilities and manufacturing jobs in Michigan.
Ford shares were up 4% on the New York Stock Exchange. The Ford announcement impacts workers at the Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Michigan, according to the automaker.
The Dow closed at 19881.76, an increase of 119.16 points, or 0.60% on the first trading day of the New Year.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 5429.08, a surge of 45.97 points, or 0.85%.
The S&P 500 also closed higher for the day, at 2257.53, up 19.00 points, or 0.85%.
Ford's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Fields said in an interview with a business news cable show in the U.S. that the decision to create the 700 new jobs in Michigan was influenced by President-elect Donald J. Trump's proposed economic policies, and anticipated business-friendly environment.
The company is investing $700 million in Michigan, a state that in a surprise turn-of-events, voted for Trump last November for president, rather than $1.7 billion in Mexico.
“We’re doing this decision based on what’s right for our business,” Ford CEO Mark Fields said in a TV interview this afternoon. “As we think about the investments here in Michigan, as you can imagine, we look at a lot of factors as we make those. One of the factors that we’re looking at is a more positive U.S. manufacturing business environment under President-elect Trump and some of the pro-growth policies he said he’s going to pursue. And so this is a vote of confidence.”
After the Ford news briefing, Trump posted a link on his Twitter account to a news story about the Ford decision and then added in a subsequent message: "Instead of driving jobs and wealth away, AMERICA will become the world's great magnet for INNOVATION & JOB CREATION."
Trump has yet to take office, but has already convinced a number of publicly traded companies, including Carrier Corp., a division of United Technologies (NYSE:UTX), to keep manufacturing operations in the U.S. He's also negotiated cost reductions in projects by Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Lockheed-Martin.
Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was critical on the floor of the Senate today of President-elect Trump, claiming that it was irresponsible to conduct policy by "140 characters" on Twitter.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest claimed the Ford announcement was a result of President Obama's "economic policies" during a press briefing earlier today. The U.S. economy last year grew at the slowest rate since the Great Depression, analysts note.