© Reuters.

By Daniel Shvartsman

Investing.com -- Stock markets appeared set to close lower in the first day of a holiday-shortened last trading week of the year, as tech led the market lower much as it has through the rest of 2022.

The S&P 500 lost .15% as of 15:00 ET (20:00 GMT) in Tuesday trading, checking in at 3828. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 37 points or .1%, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.3%, at 10360, only 2.7% above 52-week lows. The Russell 2000 dropped .5% in later day trading.

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) was the headline grabber Tuesday as it has been for much of the past decade, whether going higher or lower. The electric vehicle maker traded near $112 in late afternoon action on heavy volume, down 9% on the day. The main news story was that the company was reducing production at its Shanghai plant, though tax loss selling, general momentum, and angst over CEO Elon Musk's Twitter acquisition and subsequent involvement there may be as much at fault.

Other leading lights on the Nasdaq that traded off heavily Tuesday included semiconductor maker Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) (-7.2%), as well as peers Marvell Technology Group Ltd (NASDAQ:MRVL) (-2.9%), NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) (-2.7%), and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) (-2.2%); biotech and vaccine maker Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) (-8.7%); additional electric vehicle companies such as Lucid Group Inc (NASDAQ:LCID) (-6.4%) and Rivian Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:RIVN) (-7%); and FAANG components Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) (-3.3%), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (-2.2%), and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) (-2.2%).

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) was another notable market mover, down 6% amid heavy flight cancellations due to rough weather in the United States. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was down 1.2%, setting a new 52-week low during the day, even as JPMorgan reported that supply times for the iPhone are improving.

Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) and Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) rose 4.9% and 3.5% respectively amid news that China was reducing requirements on inbound travelers to the country, dropping a mandatory quarantine period for just a negative PCR test. Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) (+4%), JD.com (NASDAQ:JD) (+3.8%) and Pinduoduo (NASDAQ:PDD) (+1.9%) also rode this wave higher. Estee Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE:EL) (+3.4%) and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) (+2%) were among other notable gainers on the day.

Crude Oil WTI Futures gave back gains on the day, trading .1% lower after being up as much as 1.5% on the day. Brent Oil Futures traded marginally higher at .1% after also falling back from highs of the day, which perhaps also came on the back of the China news. Natural gas also leaked away its gains, up only .5% in afternoon trade after opening 4% higher as the impact from that heavy weather across the U.S. was still being assessed.

The US Dollar Index dipped .1% in Tuesday trading, with the EUR/USD about flat and gold riding up 1% to continue a hot year-end streak. Bitcoin drifted down .9% to 16689.

United States 10-Year treasuries traded up 2.7% to 3.849%.

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We read at: Investing.com