General Motors stock took off Monday morning on news of the string of auto plant closings.

Shortly before noon, GM stock was trading at $38.11 a share, up $2.18, or 6.07 percent for the day. At one point in the afternoon, GM jumped as much as 7.9 percent to $38.75, the highest since July.

The stock price pulled back some, though, and GM closed at $37.65 a share, up $1.72 a share, or 4.79 percent.

GM remains down about 12 percent from an adjusted close of $42.93 a share on Jan. 8.

In contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.46 percent Monday. The Dow closed at 24,640.24 points, up 354.29 points.

Ford closed Monday at $9.41 a share, up 28 cents, or 3.07 percent.

GM announced Monday that it will idle three North American car assembly plants, including one on the Detroit-Hamtramck border, and two transmission plants, including one in Warren. The move and other restructuring will involving cutting thousands of UAW and salaried jobs.

David Kudla, the CEO of Mainstay Capital Management, said job cuts and plant closings were expected for 2019.

“Car sales have been declining,” Kudla said. “And several of these plants were already down to one shift per day.”

GM CEO Mary Barra is moving quickly to restructure GM for slower industry sales going forward, given that the industry is past the peak in auto sales for this economic recovery, he said.

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In addition, GM is preparing for the industry’s ultimate shift toward ride sharing, Kudla said.

Michelle Krebs, executive analyst, Autotrader, said in a statement that Barra is trying to get ahead of a potential crisis by making cuts now.

"A confluence of factors has triggered GM’s actions," she said.

Krebs noted that challenges include: "A downturn in the important China market as well as a potential downturn in the North American market — the two are GM’s biggest markets; the dramatic shift by consumers from traditional cars to utility vehicles; and the impact of tariffs and trade issues."

"GM is actually a tad late to adjusting its product line and production capacity to the dramatic car-to-utility shift," she said.

"Ford and Fiat Chrysler already revealed their plans to largely abandon traditional cars. We had expected GM to follow suit, especially in light of 2019’s labor talks with the UAW," Krebs said.

David Whiston, equity strategist for U.S. autos at Morningstar Research Services, said GM remains on track to find ways to cut costs and be more efficient.

As part of the restructuring, GM will stop making several cars in North America by the end of 2019, including the Buick LaCrosse, the Volt semi-electric car, the Chevrolet Impala and the Cruze compact.

"Some of these car models are great vehicles," Whiston said. "But the reality is that North America is a light truck market."

Nearly 70 percent of new vehicle sales for the U.S. industry are light trucks each month now, with GM’s mix closer to 80 percent, he said.

"Focusing on what sells and is profitable is the best way for a capital-intensive firm to generate cash flow, and GM is doing that with these moves," Whiston said.

David Sowerby, managing director and portfolio manager for Cleveland-based Ancora Advisors, said it may be too soon to tell the impact of the restructuring on GM’s stock price. But the stock has moved up briskly so far.

GM had been trading around $40 a share in late June. But dropped to around $31 a share by Oct. 18.

"Add in a 4 percent dividend yield and GM has been the more compelling auto name to own, when most have been laggards this year," Sowerby said.

Contact Susan Tompor: stompor@freepress.com or 313-222-8876. Follow Susan on Twitter @Tompor