(Sharecast News) - US stocks finished in the red on Thursday as investors turned cautious ahead of the non-farm payrolls report, while shares in Tesla plunged after the breakdown in Donald Trump and Elon Musk's relationship turned very ugly, very quickly.
The fallout of Musk's recent severe public criticism of Trump's spending bill turned into a war of words on Thursday, with the pair launching insults at each other on social media.
Musk's attacks included him alleging that Trump was in the 'Epstein Files'; while Trump claimed that Musk knew the "inner workings of the bill [and] had no problem with it" - something which the Tesla founder denied. Among other things, Trump then suggested that the government could save "billions and billions of dollars" by terminating Musk's subsidies and contracts.
The result was a 14% drop in the share price of Tesla, taking its five-day performance to -20%, with the stock falling further in after-hours trading.
As one of the largest listed stocks on the Nasdaq, the plunge sent the tech-heavy index down 0.8%. Meanwhile the S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the Dow slipped 0.3%.
Stocks were slightly higher early on Thursday after Chinese media outlet Xinhua revealed that Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping had a phone call together.
"In true Trump style, there was a lot of fanfare and not much detail. The positive tone of the message on Truth Social was enough to inject some optimism into financial markets," said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.
However, nervousness ahead of Friday's US jobs report was keeping risk appetite in check - particularly in light of recent disappointing economic data releases, including much lower-than-expected private job adds reported by ADP and weak ISM service-sector numbers.
On the docket on Thursday were US jobless claims, which rose 8,000 to 247,000, up from the previous week's revised figure of 239,000, versus expectations of a drop to 235,000 to mark the highest reading since October 2024.
Elsewhere, America's trade gap narrowed to $61.6bn in April, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, down from March's $138.3bn gap for the lowest reading since August 2023. Imports fell 16.3% to a six-month low of $351.0bn, after jumping to an all-time high of $419.4bn.
Finally, non-farm labour productivity fell by 1.5% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter, softer than initial estimates of -0.8% and -0.7% in the fourth quarter.
In equity news, consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble fell on plans to cut 7,000 jobs as part of a new two-year non-core restructuring programme amid a sharp slowdown in organic sales growth. The plans, which involve brand exits, selected brand divestitures and potential market exits, will see the company lose around 15% of its workforce from non-manufacturing roles.
Discount retailer Five Below traded higher after posting strong first-quarter numbers and issuing solid second-quarter guidance.
Dow Jones - Risers
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $267.14 1.51%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $605.88 1.11%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $467.68 0.82%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $266.86 0.50%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $64.62 0.36%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $153.66 0.29%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $43.30 0.14%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $287.10 0.03%
American Express Co. (AXP) $295.96 0.01%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $11.25 0.00%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $200.63 -1.98%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $162.80 -1.90%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $295.84 -1.51%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $97.96 -1.40%
Boeing Co. (BA) $209.02 -1.40%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $19.99 -1.28%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $261.95 -0.86%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $112.53 -0.85%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $369.28 -0.84%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $308.98 -0.83%
S&P 500 - Risers
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $96.67 9.08%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $8.57 5.41%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $19.35 5.16%
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $51.45 4.59%
Macy's Inc. (M) $11.92 4.10%
Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (JEF) $51.02 3.95%
AES Corp. (AES) $10.48 3.34%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $482.20 3.24%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $106.29 2.63%
Gap Inc. (GAP) $21.58 2.62%
S&P 500 - Fallers
PVH Corp. (PVH) $66.30 -17.96%
Brown Forman Corp. Class B (BF.B) $27.25 -17.92%
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $0.67 -9.58%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $1,010.81 -3.89%
Constellation Brands Inc. Class A (STZ) $170.60 -3.60%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $83.24 -3.37%
Apache Corp. (APA) $17.85 -3.22%
LKQ Corporation (LKQ) $38.90 -3.21%
Eastman Chemical Co. (EMN) $78.21 -3.08%
Nucor Corp. (NUE) $118.75 -2.55%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $3.03 33.77%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $96.67 9.08%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $482.20 3.24%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $106.29 2.63%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $1,250.52 2.04%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $10.00 2.04%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $173.27 2.03%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $164.19 1.40%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $9.72 1.36%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $791.89 1.25%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $284.70 -14.26%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $1,010.81 -3.89%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $83.24 -3.37%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $130.36 -2.00%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $200.63 -1.98%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $11.27 -1.91%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $55.27 -1.50%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $147.56 -1.39%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $139.99 -1.36%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $19.99 -1.28%
26.87 (0.30%)
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