Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq slide as Tesla dives 14% on Trump-Musk escalation

Well, despite the recent rise of the “TACO” trade, it appears President Trump does not always chicken out.

After days of Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk bashing Trump’s tax bill, the President responded in scathing fashion on Thursday.

Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, the easiest way money in the budget is to “terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.”

He added in a separate post,” “Elon was “wearing thin,” I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!”

The spout resulted in Tesla stock falling more than 14% amid its worts single day market cap loss in history. With the stock trading at about 284 per share, roughly in line with where shares ended the trading session the day after the election on Nov. 6, the Trump bump has essentially been erased from one of the most popular Trump trades.

Now with the stock essentially back at the same price it was seven months ago, investors are faced with evaluating the difference between a company’s CEO buddying up with the president and that same CEO becoming the president’s direct adversary.

President Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, on Thursday afternoon to continue an ongoing feud with Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, who recently left his post with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

In a separate post, Trump said the easiest way money in the budget is to “terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.”

Tesla stock quickly extended losses and was down more than 12% just after Trump posted the comments.

Read more about the ongoing feud here.

Mortgage rates fell for the first time in a month, following a sharp move lower in Treasury yields. At around 6.9%, relatively high rates have depressed mortgage and homebuying activity throughout the critical spring season.

Yahoo Finance’s Claire Boston reports:

Read more here.

Palantir (PLTR) shares fell as much as 5% in afternoon trading as Semafor reported Republican privacy advocates in Congress are criticizing the Trump administration’s work with the defense technology company.

Multiple Congress members expressed privacy concerns regarding Palantir’s collection of a “massive pool of government data on Americans.”

Read more here.

Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports:

Read more here. 

Stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group (CRCL) shares are soaring just after the company began trading at $69.

The stock quickly hit $92 after several trading halts. Shares are now up more than 200% from the companies IPO price of $31 per share.

Read more here.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) came close to touching 6,000 on Thursday, its highest level since February.

The broad-based index touched a session high of 5,999.70 after President Trump said he had a “very good phone call” with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, about trade.

Stocks have roared back roughly 20%, or more than 1,000 points, from their April lows after President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff policy reveal.

The president has since rolled back the broad-based reciprocal tariff plan he unveiled on April 2, announcing a 90-day pause on many countries, a framework deal with the UK, and a temporary trade truce with China.

Yahoo Finance’s Jen Schonberger reports:

Read more here.

Trump Media and Technology (DJT) took a key step toward launching a publicly traded crypto investment product Thursday morning.

The newly formed Truth Social Bitcoin ETF business trust filed its S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to register the new exchange-traded fund licensing Trump Media’s social media brand. The ETF will trade on the NYSE Arca.

Thursday’s filing is a significant step for Trump Media’s move into the cryptocurrency space.

Shares of DJT were down just over 1% late Thursday morning.

Read the full story here.

President Trump posted on social media that he had a ‘very good phone call’ with Chinese leader Xi Jinping over trade.

“I just concluded a very good phone call with President Xi, of China, discussing some of the intricacies of our recently made, and agreed to, Trade Deal,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday morning.

“The call lasted approximately one and a half hours, and resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries,” he added.

Trump said each country’s respective teams will be meeting shortly at a location to be determined.

The president also said there “should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products.”

The issue of rare earth minerals, crucial components for manufacturing, has come to the forefront in recent weeks as China has made moves to restrict their exports to the US, in retaliation against US trade policy.

This week, a group representing US auto suppliers called on Wednesday warned that the issue could quickly disrupt auto parts production

Read more here.

Tesla (TSLA) stock fell more than 5% on Thursday, extending declines from the previous session following an increasingly public policy blowout between President Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk

“Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL,” Musk posted on X on Wednesday.

Musk added, “If the massive deficit spending continues, there will only be money for interest payments and nothing else!”

EV tax credits could also be at risk after a report from Bloomberg suggests that Musk’s new tack to destroy the bill comes after his lobbying to save the tax credits was unsuccessful.

Amazon (AMZN) stock gained as much as 2% on Thursday morning after Chinese state media said President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke on Thursday, at the request of the US president.

Amazon, which sells many products sourced in China, rose following the announcement.

US stocks opened higher on Thursday after Chinese media reported a conversation between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi. This raised investor hopes that the two countries could be coming closer to a lasting trade agreement.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was little changed, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose slightly. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also gained 0.2%.

Chinese state media said Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke on Thursday at the US president’s request.

Tesla (TSLA) stock slumped more than 3% in premarket trading as CEO Elon Musk continued his public feud with policymakers over President Trump’s tax and spending bill.

“Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL,” Musk posted on X on Wednesday.

Some have speculated that these outbursts may in part have to do with Musk’s concern that Congress will do away with the federal EV tax credit, which helped the company by making its cars more affordable to consumers. Though Musk has also downplayed Tesla’s reliance on the tax credit in the past.

Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports:

Read more here.

Weekly claims for unemployment benefits hit their highest level in more than seven months during the final full week of May while the number of Americans filing for unemployment insurance on an ongoing basis continued to hover near its highest level in nearly four years as the US labor market continues to show signs of slowing.

Data from the Department of Labor released Thursday morning showed 247,000 initial jobless claims were filed in the week ending May 231, up from 239,000 the week prior and above economists’ expectations for 235,000.

Meanwhile, 1.904 million continuing claims were filed, down slightly from 1.907 million the week prior and near the highest level seen since November 2021. Economists see an increase in continuing claims as a sign that those out of work are taking longer to find new jobs.

Silver surged to its highest level since February 2012, rising about 4% to above $36 an ounce on Thursday morning. Gold also rose 0.5% as demand for the metals remained strong.

Bloomberg reports:

Read more here.

As millions of people flooded into the stock market over the past few years, understanding of the things that move markets seems to have made noticeable progress.

Not, however, for bonds, notes Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban:

Read more here in today’s Morning Brief.

Procter & Gamble (PG) said Thursday it will cut 7,000 jobs — or around 6% of its global workforce — as it grapples with rising tariff-related costs and shifts in demand from penny-watching shoppers.

The consumer products giant’s two-year restructuring plan also calls for the dropping of certain product categories and brands, Reuters reported.

Shares in P&G were little changed in premarket trading as investors assessed the news from the world’s largest consumer goods company.

Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi reports:

Read more here.

Here are some top stocks trending on Yahoo Finance in premarket trading:

Tesla (TSLA) stock fell over 1% in premarket trading on Thursday following CEO Elon Musk’s latest attack on President Trump’s tax bill. Musk said: “Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL,” Musk posted on X.

PVH Corp (PVH), the owner of designer brand Calvin Klein, stock dropped 8% before the bell after cutting its profit outlook for the year, citing weakness in the US, China and tariffs.

Zac Coughlin, Chief Financial Officer, said, “We are reaffirming our revenue guidance for the year but are decreasing our outlook for profitability and earnings per share to reflect that backdrop and the current performance of our business.”

Robinhood (HOOD) stock rose 1% following Bank of America (BAC) saying the online brokerage is a “prime candidate” to enter the S&P 500 Index in the rebalancing set to be announced Friday.

Broadcom (AVGO) stock rose 1.4% in premarket trading ahead of second-quarter earnings report, due for release later today.