Tesla stock keeps selling

Even the worst year ever for Tesla shares hasn’t shaken individual investors’ faith in the electric-vehicle maker and its billionaire chief executive, Elon Musk.

Such retail traders have continued piling into the shares, data from Vanda Research show.

In fact, they’ve been strong buyers every day this month, driving their net purchases to record highs in both December and the fourth quarter.

On Wednesday, they appeared poised to get a small reward for their loyalty: Tesla jumped as much as 6.6% soon after the market’s open.

But the shares gave back almost all those gains by late morning, threatening to extend a seven-day losing streak that has driven them down 70% this year and erased almost $720 billion from the company’s stock-market capitalization.

Oil price drops as dollar rises

Oil sustained losses as the dollar ticked higher and equity markets erased gains, susceptible to broader market swings amid thin liquidity.

West Texas Intermediate traded near $78 a barrel after closing at a three-week high earlier this week.

Gains were driven by China’s determination to continue easing restrictions even as COVID infections there soar.

Volatility was also heightened after the Kremlin said this week it would ban exports of Russian crude oil and refined products to foreign buyers that adhere to a price cap.

“The outlook remains highly uncertain for the oil market,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

China’s success in pivoting away from COVID Zero could be key to a recovery, but it will take time to understand the implications on oil demand, he said.

Crude is still set for a modest gain in 2022 after a volatile year that saw prices surge following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and then gradually pull back as fears of a global slowdown grew.

China’s rapid unwinding of its strict COVID Zero policy and a resulting wave of virus cases have hit a market that’s prone to sharp swings due to a lack of liquidity.

From wire reports