Stocks sink as the president fights with the world’s richest man
US stocks erased early losses to climb to session highs after President Donald Trump said he had “a very good phone call with President Xi of China” before giving up all those gains in the afternoon to finish in the red as the president had a very public spat with Tesla CEO and world’s richest man Elon Musk — who’s ending the day many billions less wealthy than he started it.
The S&P 500 closed down 0.5%, the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.8%, and the Russell 2000 finished marginally in the red.
Consumer discretionary was far, far and away the worst-performing S&P 500 sector ETF, though all but communications services finished in the red.
Musk has taken exception with the “big, beautiful bill” making its way through Congress (which, among other things, would see electric vehicle tax credits eliminated), prompting Trump to declare that he was “very disappointed” in Musk. The Tesla CEO then claimed Trump would have lost the election without his help, and shares of the EV maker cratered as the barbs continued to fly between the two sides.
It was the 11th-worst day on record for Tesla, which tumbled 14.3%. The public spat also weighed on other “Trump trades” like Palantir.
Other big losers included Winnebago, which announced it’s laying off even more workers after posting preliminary third-quarter results that disappointed. And while a stiff drink may be in order after the chaos of the day, not enough folks have been indulging for Brown-Forman’s taste. The seller of Jack Daniel’s tumbled after whiffing on the top and bottom lines while calling for net income to fall for the full year.
On the other hand, Five Below was a standout performer, spiking after delivering strong earnings and announcing a partnership with Uber Eats.
