Markets Slip Amid Trade Tension
The S&P 500 fell on Thursday, spurred by a drop in shares of electric vehicle maker Tesla
The Dow Jones Industrials retreated 108 points to 42,319.74.
The much-broader index rolled lower 31.51 points to 5,939.30
The NASDAQ Composite dropped 162.04 points to 19,298.45.
Tesla was a big laggard in the session, down more than 14% and losing its trillion-dollar market cap status. Shares slid after President Donald Trump said he was “very disappointed” in CEO Elon Musk. Musk shot back at the president, saying in a post on X that “without me, Trump would have lost the election.”
The feud further intensified after Trump called Musk ”‘CRAZY” and signaled that he might cut his companies’ government contracts.
During Thursday’s session, shares of bourbon maker Brown-Forman were slated for their worst day on record.
Stocks were volatile during the session after Beijing said Thursday that Trump and China President Xi Jinping held a phone call, which was initiated by Trump, according to Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese embassy in the U.S.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social that it was a “very good phone call” with Xi, but it was still unclear what was accomplished from the communication between the two leaders. Trump said the two countries’ trade teams would be meeting again “shortly.”
The U.S. and China agreed to temporarily lower tariffs in May, propelling stocks to sharp gains for the month as investors hoped the worst of the tariff turmoil was behind them. The S&P 500 rose more than 6% last month, scoring its best month since November 2023, along with the NASDAQ.
Recently, however, escalating tensions between the U.S. and China has brought volatility back into the market. Stocks got a bit of a boost following an initial report of the call.
The report of the call initially gave stocks a bit of a boost following the release of new labor market data Thursday. Jobless claims last week came in at 247,000, an increase of 8,000 from the week before and more than the Dow Jones estimate of 236,000.
This comes one day after an estimate of private sector payrolls rose by just 37,000 in May, coming in sharply below the Dow Jones forecast for 110,000 and raising investors
Prices for the 10-year Treasury floundered, hiking yields to 4.40% from Wednesday’s 4.36%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered 49 cents to $63.34 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slumped $19.20 to $3,380 U.S. an ounce.
