The most powerful man vs the richest man is all the talk today, with Donald Trump and Elon Musk engaging in a dramatic public feud that erupted on Thursday after Musk, who had recently departed his governmental support role, publicly criticised Trump's "One Big, Beautiful Bill" as an "abomination" that would increase the debt ceiling and undermine his cost-cutting efforts. Trump expressed disappointment with Musk's attacks during a meeting with the German Chancellor, suggesting Musk was upset about the elimination of electric vehicle mandates that benefitted Tesla, which was countered by Musk to fire back with accusations that Trump was lying and that he had been crucial to Trump's 2024 election victory. The feud escalated when Musk suggested that Trump appears in Jeffrey Epstein's files and endorsed calls for Trump's impeachment, while Trump threatened to terminate Musk's lucrative government contracts worth billions of dollars. Musk initially responded by threatening to decommission SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which is vital for NASA operations, but later walked back this threat as both sides appeared to seek de-escalation.
EQUITY
Wall Street was broken by a public feud between President Trump and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, which recently fell 14% after Trump criticised Musk’s opposition to a tax bill. U.S.-China trade tension came back into question after no concrete progress was made, and concerns grew over rising unemployment claims. On the positive side, MongoDB rose 13% after strong earnings, while Dollar Tree regained 9% after earnings pushed the stock lower.
GOLD
Gold is in consolidation phases as external threats hold the overpriced commodity prices higher, with rising jobless claims at 247,000 and unresolved trade tensions, with the US doubling steel and aluminium tariffs to 50% while imports fell 16% following tariff implementation. Even with current daily fluctuations, gold is positioned to close 2% weekly gains as investors await Friday's nonfarm payrolls report, which could affect dollar strength and gold prices.
OIL
Brent rallied to around $65 per barrel, heading for a 4% weekly gain due to seasonal demand and supply disruptions from Alberta wildfires, affecting 275,000 barrels per day of production. However, Saudi Arabia's push for OPEC+ to increase output by at least 411,000 barrels per day and the kingdom's decision to cut July crude prices for Asia to four-year lows balanced the market in consolidation.
CURRENCY
The US dollar rallied on Friday ahead of the May jobs report but remained on track for weekly losses. The ECB's quarter-point rate cut came with hawkish signals suggesting the easing cycle may be ending while the yen fell on doubts about further BOJ rate hikes. China's yuan fell to near two-year lows against major trading partners as the PBOC maintained its policy of keeping the currency steady against the dollar while allowing depreciation against other currencies to support exporters.
